[bkw4216]

All,

Trying to get any further info from Dr. Jens Chapman in Seattle proved to be fruitless. The only way he'd give me the information I was seeking was face to face and the first appointment I could get was July 5th. Neat huh?

I heard back from Dr. Blumenthal's patient coordinator a day or two after my last post. Dr. B said he was unaware of any contraindication and that he was willing to look at my films so I overnighted them to his office and within 3 days I had another response from his patient coordinator saying the doctor thought I'd be a good candidate for ADR. He said the few lesions he did see were above any of the potential discs they are talking about replacing so he didn't see a problem.

One of the things that stood out in Richard's documentary on ADR was that most of the people interviewed emphasized how important a good relationship was with your doctor, particularly in the area of communication. The more I thought about it I had Dr. Chapman in Seattle who was the guy I went to for a second opinion and, after I failed to ask all of the questions I should have, wouldn't give me any further information to help make a decision until after I actually needed it. Then I had Dr. Blumenthal in Texas (by the way, Thank You, Mike, for your encouragement to follow up with his office), who was technically, not even my doctor, and he responded twice within a week to my questions and evaluated my MRIs and X-rays.

After a week of a lot of prayer, and watching Richard's video, I decided that I was going to go forward with the plan to go to Germany. My wife and I leave Seattle Thursday, June 21st. I check into the hospital in Bogen June 27th, and surgery is the 29th. I'm scheduled to be in the hospital for a week and will remain in town for another week after that, per their orders. I'm psyched to meet Dr. Bertagnoli and his staff.

I'll keep you all posted on how things go.

Thanks again to Richard for this website.

Brian.