I can highly recommend Dr. Luiz Pimenta from Brazil (although he does work in the US & Mexico as well I think) He has an address in San Diego which is where I sent my images.
I went through similar treatments but after a few years, all stopped working. I strongly disagree with the poster who said you were not bad enough. Our options evaporate because we leave things go far too long.
I got consults from almost a dozen surgeons throughout the world, and didn't get a warm fuzzy with Dr. B. Plus I am leary of the ProDisc as well...there seems to be more bad stories with it than any other disc.
Because of severe metal allergies, I could not get a lumbar ADR, just one (NeoDisc) for my C5/6. (There are no non-metal lumbar ADRs available yet.) So I had fusion at the bottom two lumbar levels. I have to say that my initial fear of fusion is starting to disappear, and I certainly wouldn't hesitate to have one at L5/S1, with ADR at the L4/5 level. There has been much discussion about the need for ADR at the bottom since there isn't nearly as much motion at that level. Also, I would be uncomfortable with stacking too many ADRs...JMHO.
Dr. Pimenta was wonderful to work with and discussed many options with us. I would go back to him in a heartbeat. He also had the least expensive price, but it didn't include hotel & travel. While the fancy German hotels would be great, I couldn't afford them.
If you would like any more information about our experience, I'd be glad to chat.
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C3/4-5/6- Mod. ant., severe posterior bulging w. nerve root compression. Sev. narrowing of spinal canal with cord compression.
L4/5/S1- Mod. narrowing, bulging disc, significant hypertrophy of flava lig.
Highly allergic to all metals.
NEW: 3/16/2010: Successful surgery in Brazil w. Dr. Pimenta; Nuvasive NeoDisc at C5/6, and XLIF & ALIF at L4/5/S1 w. PEEK cages. No rods, screws, plates. Non-metal lumbar ADR not available at present time, so went with fusion.
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