[Cynlite]

Did you read both of my pre-surgery threads? I went through the same decision making process. I broke them in to two threads because my New Member introduction thread got moved almost immediately to the International Forum since at the time I was looking in to what Europe had to offer compared to the U.S. So, I started another thread about paying cash and staying in the U.S. under the New Member Forum. I looked at all the data I could find and it took me months and many hours of research to come to my decision. I tried very hard to not let the financial aspect impact my decision. Some can do that and some just can't do that because it's a pretty big nut to bite off when insurance doesn't help.

The surgeon is the most important decision and finding one in the U.S. that has lots of experience with ADR here is not easy. (Yes, there are many here that do it but, I'm talking about the really experienced ones.) Several TBI doctors have the experience and then recently I learned about Dr. Riew. There is also Dr. Light up in San Francisco. I think your insurance better cover you if you go with the two named surgeons because one is in New York City and the other San Francisco so, they don't come cheap. (They are both Mobi-C doctors.) TBI's cost for ADR's is very good for the U.S. and perhaps they can help get your insurance on board but, my understanding is you have to pay cash up front with them.

After I did all my research, sent out lots of packages, had phone calls with three other surgeons and had my appointment up at Barrow, plus got turned down by their Mobi-C doctor (because I think my very screwed up neck was way above his experience level), I Skyped with Dr. Clavel. I knew after that conversation that he was the only surgeon for me. Knowledge is power or can be just plain confusing in this journey. If you bring Dr. Clavel into the picture, he may tell you things you haven't heard from other surgeons. I'm not the only member here to mention that he sees things others don't so, if you think you can pull off the trip to Europe, then I highly recommend getting his opinion. I put all my eggs in his basket and he's in Barcelona. If something happens to me here as a result of the surgery, there is no other surgeon I would want to help me so, back to Barcelona I would have to go. I included the one year of insurance in my package with Dr. Clavel just in case something goes wrong that is unexpected but, I expected a good outcome based on what I read from others before me plus, I came to trust him. Of course, there are no guarantees but, I at least went into it with a great attitude.

Besides dealing with egos and fear of a malpractice lawsuit, one of the problems with trying to get a U.S. surgeon on board after you get an M6-C in Europe, is that they just don't have the experience here with it. Surgeons won't see you if they don't think they can do anything to help you. It's in the trials for single level and who knows, may be approved for one level by next year. For a single or two level, I think one can make an argument for staying in the U.S. especially, if your insurance will help but, only with the right surgeon! Dr. Clavel thought I needed three and explained why to me, so I put my trust in his eyes and experience. Plus, I still don't think there is a snowballs chance in you know where that my insurance will help pay for that surgery. I looked hard into that as well. By the time I got to Dr. Clavel, I had already seen one surgeon in the U.S. who did four neck surgeries on me. I think that hurt me when it came to trying to find another surgeon in the U.S. You haven't had surgery yet so, you have that going for you. Choose your surgeon wisely because it's not so easy surgeon shopping later in the U.S. or Europe IMO after you have had your first surgery. We all want that first surgery to be the one that works! I don't recommend getting on the multiple surgery bandwagon...it's not fun! Why not consider going to a surgeon who is known for fixing other surgeon's mistakes to begin with if you can pull that off?

The last consideration is do you want a Neurosurgeon or an Orthopedic surgeon implanting your ADR? They do things a little differently sometimes. Maybe PhillyJoe will pipe in on this because that came into play with his surgery.

I preferred a Neurosurgeon who could get the job done quickly so, I wasn't under anesthesia for too long and I wanted one that would pay attention to all the osteophytes and do his best to get them all. Those darn osteophytes are a big deal both before surgery and after when considering your outcome IMO. I also preferred to be in a really good hospital not a surgical center for my surgery. So, surgeon first and then there is the rest of the list. There is a lot to consider.

Sorry for doing a data dump on you but, I do hope it helps you to figure out what you want to do.