[Ram_2L-ADR]

Hi Bob,

I just recently had my surgery, 2-L ADR at C4-C5 & C5-6 (you can have a look at my post). I'm 8 days post op and to be honest, I'm really glad I had this one done. I'm 31, and my mother had a fusion done about a year ago at C4-C5, though the surgery went well, looking at me she really regrets not having the ADR instead.
She spent nearly 2 months with a neck brace, and following this I'm pretty sure she lost all trust in the strength of her neck, though all doctors tell her that the fusion went perfect.

One of the reasons (the only one that made sense to me other than age), that I was told by my doctor was something to look for when choosing Fusion or ADR was the curvature of the neck. The top of the spine is meant to be slightly bent backwards, some people have it straight (like me), and some bent forward. In the case where the cervical spine is bent forward, they may recommend fusion to adjust the curvature of the neck to avoid the high chance of having future muscular pains and discomfort. You have to consider that the artificial disc has a flip side, though it gives you all the mobility you need, it doesn't actually give support and really relies mainly on your muscles.

That's my grain of salt, hope it helped!
Good luck with whichever decision you decide to go with!

Rami