Tim and Harrison,
Thank you both for your replies. I went to my appointment with the neurosurgeon and felt like I was prepared and had good questions to ask. Also my physical therapist typed a letter describing all the things we've been working on.
My doctor agreed that an artificial disc would be right for me instead of a fusion, and we started the insurance paperwork. This is worker's comp, but apparently they like to get approval from my regular insurance "just in case." I really am hoping this is not going to be a long process. I have been in contact with my company's HR dept, and will be calling my claims adjuster to try to help things move along.
Right now I feel like I'm in a holding pattern of sorts; my doctor told me to give physical therapy a rest, stop doing traction at home, and cancel my next epidural. My last injection made things worse-I've been getting awful headaches on side of face/ear/neck/back of head ever since, which he said may be due to the extra inflammation.
So, all I'm doing is taking 1000 mg of Naproxin every day; I'm still moderately in pain (neck,shoulder,arm), and still have discoloration/numbness/tightness of left arm. I'm not a fan of taking more pills, so hopefully I'll have some answers soon.
Kate
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