[Terry]

I was just joking about the alcoholics. There was no offense taken by me at all. I was trying to make a little light of the situation.

My neck had a lot of arthritis in it prior to the disc replacement. I had a hemi-laminectomy in '95 at The Mayo Clinic. I could not turn my head all the way to my left anymore for about three to four years prior to the disc replacement. Now I can touch my shoulders with my chin. I am very thrilled with my range of motion.

As far as how I am getting around I rode 1,800 miles on my bicycle prior to the surgery. Last Summer, while healing from 4 level ADR, I rode 2,234 miles on my bicycle. This Winter I have been on a spinning bike and out snowshoeing. I have not skied yet as I cannot afford to land on my butt.

I was impressed with Stenum and believe they did right by me. The place draws a lot of controversy on the forum here but I am doing well. You may PM me if interested and I will give you my phone number to share my experiences.

I still have some pain in the lumbar area and believe the recovery for the lumbar area is much harder. A lot of people do go overseas for this surgery as they are still not approved to do multi-level disc replacements in the States yet.

Let me know if you want to chat further.

Terry Newton