[Poncho]

Hi David,

I agree with Mark. When it comes to the spine - less is better. You haven't mentioned any surgeries in your history - however, I'll ask anyways...Have you had any surgery done on your spine?

I had problems at the same levels as you do now. Went through all of the procedures as you have mentioned plus a micro-d and an endoscopic discectomy. Micro-d bought me about 18 months of time before the disc adjacent started giving me problems - then I went for the endo-d because of fears regarding scar tissue in the spine.(with multiple surgeries) After that I ended up having ADR abroad. With this being said, there are many patients out there that do well with the less invasive interventions such as endo-discectomies et al. Unfortunately, I was one of the 20% of patients that a discectomy did not resolve my spine issues and had to move on to ADR.

Definitely do your research before making any decisions. Exhaust the least invasive measures first. Then, if you are still having problems - ADR - if you are a candidate. I agree with you that ADR is a better option than fusion at your age.

I am also from Ohio and familiar with the Columbus area. I think most of the docs if not all of them in the tri-state area are mostly using the Charite or the Maverick in some practices. My personal choice was the Prodisc - and the closest place to get this done here in the US to us is like in Tenn or NY. - I chose to go abroad....

I have done Case Mgt for insurance companies and unless things have changed recently, most are not covering ADR. Many members have had to get the surgery done pay for it out of pocket and go through the appeals process. Some have got partial to full reimbursement from their appeals and others unfortunately have been totally denied. It just depends on your insurance carrier AND exactly what policy you have under them. There are a lucky handful that have had all expenses covered without having to go through appeals, but they seem to be few and far between.

I personally chose to go abroad because my insurance would not cover the procedure regardless if was here in the US or abroad. Going abroad, I would have a more experienced surgeon, cost of surgery would be less AND I would get a longer hospital stay - as compared to length of hospital stays here in the US. (3-4 days post-op hospital stay here in the US vs 10-11 day stay in Europe). Also, the incident of post-op infections is less in Europe than in the US. AND in my opinion, the patient care was better there than here. (I am a nurse by profession). I think the hardest thing to orchestrate other than finances would be obtaining a doc/surgeon that is willing to follow you post-op once returning to the US.

So far I think you have made wise decisions and you are asking excellent questions. Also, coming here proves that you are doing your homework.

Welcome to the forum and I hope to see you coming back posting again soon.