Jayne, thanks for posting. Hey, for what it’s worth – fusion get’s a bad wrap on this forum for all different kinds of reasons, but for some people it is the most appropriate procedure. Can you clarify what you meant by this statement:
The alternative of fusion now pretty much guarantees at least 2 additional surgeries in a 12-18 months, but my insurance won't consider that aspect.
Some percentage of fusion patients may need to get an another fusion down the road because of adjacent level degeneration – but 12-18 months would be very unusual. Then again, it depends on the actual pathologies of the disease(s) affecting the spine.
So, back to your conundrum: will your insurance company cover any possible “issues” relating to a fusion procedure?
Just to give you one other thing to ponder – there are cervical ADR trials involving several different arthroplasty devices throughout the nation. Many folks within this community have received cervical ADRs within FDA trials (me, for instance).
Regardless of that issue, it seems many people here done very well with cervical ADRs, perhaps moreso than lumbar ADRs. Why? That’s another story.
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