Options are slim
Hey everyone, I saw my ortho spine surgeon yesterday for the third time in about a year. This was a pre-op appt. for my fusion surgery I have scheduled for late September. We also discussed the possibility of ADR for my L2-3 ruptured disc. He said even "if" it were an option for me in the U.S., which it is not, that he wouldn't recommend ADR for my lumbar. Part being that I have a 3 level fusion below it and partly because he feels that cervical ADR is a wonderful option for patients but doesn't have the same enthusiasm for lumbar ADR. He feels that there are too many other "obstacles" to consider when it comes to ADR being a success in the lumbar region, and he has read of too many failures of ADR in lumbar region and says that is partly why insurance won't cover it. Now as far as my making an international trip to have ADR done for my cervical problems, he offered to do all the pre-op work-ups here for me. He wished that he could do the same procedures here in the US and he would definitely use ADR in my cervical. But he didn't hesitate at the idea of my going over there to do a procedure that ultimately would be taking money out of his pocket.
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54 year's young
Age 39 bad car acc, w/ l
At 46 I lost my husband and had 2nd laminec of L 4-5, 2nd was due to a cyst created from surgery. Stenosis, congenital narrow spine, DDD, 1 year later had my 1st steroid inj. have had 6 more since.
2 carpal tunnel surgeries r & l
2009 3 level fusion L 3-s, cervical fusion C-3-6
2010 L-2 ruptured extruded disc, 2011 disc herniation C-2, broken screw in top fusion. Looking for ADR possibility and hopeful. 
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