I've run the gamut with almost every surgeon in Ontario over the past five years and posted my story in a couple of forums. Give up on Gurr...I had no use for him. There isn't a surgeon in this province that admits to doing ADR now and even if they did, I wouldn't go for it as they don't have the experience. OHIP told me there were fifteen surgeons doing ADR but wouldn't tell me the names of more than five. Those five said they didn't do it anymore.
There is a good fellow in Quebec City though, and OHIP will cover it. If you want to get more details on any and all of my experiences, I'd be happy to chat either on the phone or by PM/email.
I ended up going to Brazil to see Dr. Luiz Pimenta for three levels and couldn't be happier. Of course it was self-funded, but worth every cent. I had significant neurological problems from spinal cord compression at C5/6 and unbearable pain and spondylosis at L4/5 and compression at L5/S1. As mentioned above, no Ontario surgeons will operate "just for pain" and to them, the cervical level was just "too dangerous". According to Dr. Pimenta, it was Spine Surgery 101, and anyone worth his salt should have been able to do it without issue. I'm glad I was given the runabout and had to go out of country.
All the best, and I'm here to help if you like.
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C3/4-5/6- Mod. ant., severe posterior bulging w. nerve root compression. Sev. narrowing of spinal canal with cord compression.
L4/5/S1- Mod. narrowing, bulging disc, significant hypertrophy of flava lig.
Highly allergic to all metals.
NEW: 3/16/2010: Successful surgery in Brazil w. Dr. Pimenta; Nuvasive NeoDisc at C5/6, and XLIF & ALIF at L4/5/S1 w. PEEK cages. No rods, screws, plates. Non-metal lumbar ADR not available at present time, so went with fusion.
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