Eochs,

I am sorry to hear about your insurance company. I was in the same situation as you and went through all appeals (10 months) and finally had a two level fusion. My deciding factor was based on several reasons, with pain being the biggest motivator. The deal breaker for me was my diagnosis with mild facet degeneration.

I am not unhappy with my fusion and in fact, to date, have had a very good recovery. That said, I do have concerns about adjacent disc degeneration and the need for further sugery. It is my hope that insurance companies will get there act together and start supporting ADR for patients that meet the criteria but to be honest I sometimes feel as though either direction can have its own set of post surgery issues.

Best of luck with your decision and keep us posted.