[Throttlejockey]

Dear Cheryl,

I wanted to comment on the two questions you posed.

The issue my wife had was that the C6-C7 the disc had degenerated so much that the vertebrae were very close to being bone on bone, with one of the bone spurs protruding into the nerve. It was suggested that auto-fusion had already begun to take place.

The best ADR surgeons out of Texas (TBI) did not feel comfortable recommending placement of the artificial disc in this position. They recommended a hybrid, and even said a two-level fusion may be the best solution.

Armed with this information my wife and I pressed Dr. Clavel during the consult, as we did not want to fly all the way to Spain only to get a surgery that we could have had here in the US or get pushed into a surgery that was not in her best interest, as we had heard of such cases in Germany.

Dr. Clavel was confident, but he told us how he was always prepared to make a change in the OR, and would have fusion devices standing by. That is when he gave us the 95-98% outcome for the ADR surgery.

This sold us on Dr. Clavel. It reflected a high confidence in his own skills and knowledge, but also a level of humility and a constrained ego. We perceived that a doctor that willingly shares what his "out" is, is a doctor that know their limits.

We are now 5 month post op. We had a recent consult with Dr. Clavel and my wife's X-Ray looks fantastic. Other than periodic mild soreness, she is feeling better today than she has felt in over 10 years. We are grateful for this forum as it has educated us on ADR and also for introducting us to Dr. Clavel. I am sure that there are other surgeons out there that may be just as talented as him, but I would suggest that the entire process of working with his team, and the fact that you are in a top hospital enviroment at Quiron, pushes him to the top. I would put him in the "highly recommended" column.

TJ