I'm thinking part of my problem is that I have "Aetna student health," which is like basically crappy Aetna light...I'm assuming they'll do whatever they can do deny anything and everything. I've already struggled just getting diagnostics and more conservative treatments covered.
My surgeon is in-network, and it's only a one-level procedure, so that shouldn't be part of the issue. I went through the search function and I was just hoping things had improved over time as ADR's getting more accepted as not experimental. I couldn't really get a sense of the timeline, which is what I'm really worried about.
As for the fusion, I'm terrified of it. I'm actually wondering if the reason they're denying the ADR is because as I posted in some other places, I have some retrolisthesis that another surgeon was concerned about. (My current surgeon doesn't think it's an issue). Because I'm so young, I'm just so scared that by the time I'm 50 I'll end up with a line of ruined discs and a neck full of metal from the adjacent segment issues with fusions.
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33-year-old female
C3/4 Disc bulge and bone spurs
C4/5 Disc protrusion
C5/6 Disc extrusion with cord compression, bone spurs due to uncovertebral arthropathy, right foraminal stenosis and bilateral nerve compression.
C6/7 disc protrusion
Lost appeals for ADR. C5-6 ACDF on 3/10/16
ACDF never fused, and ACDF accelerated damage of the other levels. Someone please kill me.
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