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Old 07-18-2012, 06:25 PM
jackal57 jackal57 is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 7
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Hello everyone, its been a while since I posted and wanted to again seek the generous counsel of you all. Ive gone through many tests over the past few months and tried to better educate myself as many of you suggested. Ive also talked to multiple surgeons, all of whom were recommended to me by various persons on this site and in my "real" world.

Ive done adiscogram (that was fun), and more MRIs and CT scans. The discogram showed 8/10 pain on L4-L5 and 10/10 on L5-S1. (As an aside, it was a strange experience, as i was "twilighted" and could hear myself screaming unimaginable curse words at the doctor performing the procedure, even though i couldnt control myself. I could hear the nurses laughing, and they told me later that I had been pretty creative in my choice of words. They said they had thought they had heard it all before, but I was unusually entertaining - Im glad somebody enjoyed it!).

I met last week with a surgeon I have come to trust who told me: (i) my L5-S1 is indeed autofusing but there's no way to guess how long it would talk to finish itself so ADR is not an option and fusion is the right thing to do and (ii) L4-L5 is a good candidate for ADR if thats what I want. He went on at some length about the contraindications for ADR and told me in his view my facet joints were in good condition. He told me also that he felt that given my condition, fusion would also be a good option for this level.

I feel like I'm nearing a point where I need to make a decision. from April through June, my pain went into a good phase and I was working out regularly with weights, (but still no cardio - I cant walk 1/4 mile withou the pain shooting through my back, glutes and legs, same for ellyptical and stationary bike). But a feww weeks ago the more sever pain began asserting itself again, and I think I just need to face the music and deal with this. I have 3 kids (the latest is 10 months!!!) and its having a really bad effect on my ability to interact with my kids they way I want to.

My dilemna is - no suprise - insurance related. My policy will pay for a 2 level fusion, but not a hybrid L4-L% ADR and L5-S1 fusion. If Im understanding things properly, I cant do a fusion on L5-S1 and then subsequently do a ADR on L4-L5, and vice versa. So the net effect is I can do a 2 level fusion and get it paid for, or do a hybrid (like I think I want to do) and pay for it myself (meaning Im paying for the fusion "portion" of the surgery as wel as the ADR).

The surgeon talked to me about overseas option and told me he liked Luiz Pimenta in Brazil. He said he had actually been down to Brazil to see Dr. Pimenta and witnessed his surgies. He said Pimenta and his staff were very professional and good. He even offered to coordinate a meeting with Dr. Pimenta if I wanted him to.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? on Dr. Pimenta? on hybrid ADR/fusion surgery option? I'd really appreciate any input anybody has.

And Janaya, I hope your recovery is going well. Please keep up the posts, they are so helpful to read.
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DDD L4-L5 and L5-S1, running out of options
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