Thanks for all of the input everyone! It has been very, very helpful.
JinSong, my surgeon (Dr. Blumenthal) is telling me that my insurance (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas) will pay for a two level cervical disc replacement. I'm coming up with the money for the third level (which is just the surgeon's time and the cost of the device itself.)
Of course, they have yet to approve the procedure so I'm just going by what the surgeon's office is telling me.
After all of your input and speaking with Dr. Blumenthal again, I'm convinced this is the right path. The only thing keeping it manageable at this point is the steroid injections and I've already pushed that beyond the point where I'm comfortable. Which is why I scheduled surgery. I just needed a little more factual data on outcomes and Dr. Blumenthal helped me through that.
Thanks again for all of the information and I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes. I know others post surgery stories sure helped me.
And Harrison, I'll get my homework done today.
