[NJ Gene]

Cynlite, I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the Barrow Institute. It sounds almost like you went to a surgeon who is not trained in ADR at all. I decided to get the opinion of a local spine surgeon who didn't perform ADR last week. What he told me sounds very similar to what you wrote However, as someone who doesn't perform ADR, he claimed that there were studies that cause it (ADR) to de-stabilize the spine. He defended the FDA's initial ruling that ADR should not be done in adjacent segments to a fusion. It's funny, because that's were I feel I need ADR the most. Need to stop the domino effect.

He did have a valid point that much of my current pain may be due to the facet joints. I will try an injection. However, even if that does help, I still have ASD and am not about to wait until I'm in very severe pain to address it. Been there, done that. I'm not a medical professional, but I agree with your thoughts about physical therapy. It's great for minor injuries or for rehab after surgery. However, I don't think it's going to do anything for someone like yourself who has had issues for 9 years. To me that's like saying "Go for acupuncture". It does nothing to address the matter at hand, other than to possibly give temporary relief at best.

Cheryl, for your interest, I am flying to TX today, as I have an appointment to meet Dr. Blumenthal at the Texas Back Institute tomorrow. He works with most FDA approved discs including Mobi-C. I figure he is one of the best in the U.S.A. I will then compare what he has to say with the surgeons in Europe and try to make a decision.

As an aside, my boss thinks I'm nuts flying to Texas. "Oh there are so many good doctors in NYC or Boston. I can't believe you cannot find anyone closer to home." Some people just don't grasp that it's only 5% of U.S. spine surgeons (my educated guess) that perform ADR and of those, there are fewer that take my insurance. With the exception of TBI (to my knowledge) which has a set price for ADR, one would pay much more in the U.S. than they would in Europe. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. I e-mailed my boss notice (same way he hired me) that I am leaving his company and am giving him one month for a smooth transition.

In a way this works out, because I will have time to get ADR when my employment ends. I am fortunate to have a spouse that works and also have money saved for a rainy day. Not having childern also helps.

Gene