[RiverMiles]

Hi Cynlite
Thank you for all of this information. And for the Dr R lead which I've begun to follow up on. In fact, most of the homework I've been doing over the last few days has been based on your posts.

You're right, I am very much in the information gathering phase again. And I am starting over with so many things, even getting a real understanding of my own injury, because I have spent the last 2 1/2 months focused on a different affliction altogether known as Managed Care.

A few things are happening right now that might (big, big might) result in my insurance company approving coverage for a two level ADR. But with each passing day, I am less convinced that is even what I should be hoping for.

I'm not sure how MY ultimate goal compares with that of others. I'm sure there are commonalities but as you can probably guess by my username and signature, my first priority above all else is Long Term Mobility. For me, this takes priority over pain resolution, or any other goal. What you said about skiing really resonates with me though am not a skier. For me, This would mean fixing it right and addressing anything above or below or peripheral that can be reasonably expected to cause problems in the future. The more I learn the more i question whether my current path can even achieve that.

My neurosurgeon, by all accounts, is extremely gifted. I also have no doubts about his honesty and integrity. He volunteered the fact that he had never done a two level before but had performed many one levels. He also stated without my asking that he would typically want to perform a new procedure a few times before he could comfortably recommend it to a patient with the same confidence he would recommend other procedures that may be appropriate for a given patient. Following that consult he attended LDRs training. But according to LDRs surgeon finder, he wasn't previously trained on Mobi-C at all so his experience with disc replacement wouldn't even be with the same device. And it seems like that might be important.

So if two level experience with the only device available to me is important my next step would be to reach out to TBI, Dr R, or some of the other luminaries mentioned on this site. And an important prerequisite for that is to figure out if my insurance company will even cover me outside of Georgia. But is this even what I should wish for, when my potential outcome will be limited to the framework of the one device available to me?

As the possibility of having this surgery covered begins to look remotely possible, I wonder if I can even achieve my best outcome with any surgeon or procedure my insurance would possibly cover.

I have given alot of thought to reaching out to Dr Clavel. Based on all I have read he seems to represent the closest possibility of reaching my goal. I could make the decision that if I have to pay out of pocket I will seek Dr Clavels guidance and service. But then, even if I can figure out all the logistics of making this happen, what happens after? Will any physician take me as a spine patient for my follow up especially if I receive an M6 which may never be used in the US?

These are the reasons why I decided to log on just now and start reading your posts from the beginning, to see if I could fill in some of these blanks. That's when I saw your post.

Thanks again not just for the content addressed to me but for all of you entries.