Hi Brett,
I was catching up on the posts and saw your update, sorry that it didn't go that well, but I'm not that surprised. My doctor here in Toronto told me a surgeon wouldn't even see me without a positive straight leg test and if he did get me get me in (about 6-8 month wait) he would only want to fuse the two or three levels; standard approach. No thanks! Thus my options are limited to pilates and/or massage which will never solve the underlying problem, but won't hurt and will most likely help even if I get and ADR so I keep doing them.
As for the ADR, although OHIP won't pay for it my accountant told me you can get 25% back from CCRA when you file your taxes, it's not a lot but at least it's something. As for your decision to have it done or not, I'm in the same boat although I suspect my pain level is far below yours at this point. I do believe that the Canadian doctors are only going to recommend/push surgery or care that they are familiar with. I do have concerns about follow up care when one returns from an ADR, but maybe some of the other Canadians who have come back from having ADR could comment.
Have you ever contacted the Texas Back Institute? They have been on my "radar", but I haven't talked to them yet. The main thing with them is that they do everything, not just ADR's and they are quite close to us. Not sure about cost, but if your self pay I think there rates are competitive to the Europeans. Just my $0.02! Hang in there hope some of my rambling helps.
John
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L3/4 - Disk desiccation with left paracentral herniation that compresses the left L4 nerve root within the lateral recess.
L4/5 - Disk desiccation with an annular tear, disc height loss & a broad based central disc herniation that compresses the descending L5 nerve roots bilaterally.
L5/S1 - Disk desiccation with a central disk herniation and annular tear that has led again to bilateral lateral recess narrowing with potential compression of the descending S1 nerve roots.
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