[Cynlite]

Back again. I'm fighting with my insurance company to let me go out of state. Gene gave you a good referral to the Texas Back Institute. His surgeon was Dr. Blumenthal and he has a good track record.

I am trying to get a referral to Dr. Kenneth Pettine in Colorado. Colorado Babe had surgery with him last year and also stem cell injections by him. She is doing fantastic! You can read her story here in the forums.

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So, where I live, there is one surgeon who did a 2 level cervical ADR last year. That's all we have got in my state and I don't know about you but, I don't want to see a surgeon who has only done one surgery at 2 levels. All the surgeons I have seen locally either recommend fusion or nothing because that's all they know! It's up to us to be our own advocates and figure out what is best. I think the list of qualified ADR surgeons in the US is about 30 surgeons! (You have a handful of them in California but, my research shows them all using the Prodisc.) I need 2 - 3 levels so that means I need the best of the best. Dr. Pettine has experience with both the Mobi-C and the M6-C (Trials only in US), so he's another option for you. I am still trying to get some questions answered that Dr. Zeegers raised in his emails to me so, I cannot schedule my surgery yet. Most likely I will go to Dr. Clavel in Spain (he's a wonderful man and surgeon so, worth talking to) but, I want to have a surgeon in the US that can follow me if I do go to Europe. I think it will help my chances of getting my insurance to cover some of my costs. They require a peer to peer to approve just about everything so, I need a surgeon in the US too! Very few surgeons in the US will see you after you have had surgery in Europe because the surgery is just out of their league. They have nothing to offer. I think it's important to plan for the worst and hope for the best after having surgery.

In my opinion, Dr. Zeegers is the best for diagnosis and either he or Dr. Clavel are the best surgeons from this forum in Europe. Dr. Zeegers raised questions that no other surgeon I have seen or spoken to has raised and they are very important questions! Now, I just have to figure out how to get my insurance company to cover the tests he has ordered. I'm praying that Dr. Pettine will take me on as a patient since I think he is the only surgeon who can help me break down these insurance road blocks.

BTW, if you go to the Mobi-C manufacturer's website, they list the surgeons that are trained with their device. However, I'm with Cheryl and am still leaning towards the M6-C because it is a constrained device. If I get to see Dr. Pettine, he is qualified to discuss the two discs and I want to hear what he has to say.

So, now you have a summary of what I've learned over the last six months ...run with it and good luck!

P.S. Please fill out your signature in your profile so everyone will know what you have had done. It will help people to give you better answers.