[mgs32]

Hi All,

This is my first post. I just found this site recently and it has been very informative so far! A little background... I am a 24 yo female. I've been healthy and very active my whole life, until recently. I've been having neck and right arm/hand pain for about a year and a half right now. No accident, just started noticing bad pain in arm/hand while typing and shoulder while running, and then the neck pain began. I've tried two rounds of physical therapy, lots of medication, and have stopped most of my normal daily activities. Two MRIs have shown disc herniation at C5-6, and DDD at C6-7. My neurosurgeon has recommended removing both discs and either having a fusion, 2 artificial discs (though this would require some special approval since 2 discs is not FDA approved??), or a hybrid (1 fusion, 1 artificial disc).

So, to my question... I'm wondering at what point you all contacted your insurance company regarding coverage for an artificial disc. My neurosurgeon never mentioned any concern over insurance with me, so until I saw this site, I had never even thought about it. Did your doctors tell you to contact your insurance company, or is this just something I should know to do on my own? Clearly I'm new to this, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!