View Single Post
  #5  
Old 01-26-2014, 08:06 PM
bwink23 bwink23 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 263
Default

Hey Stone....

The considerable work i need done is very difficult to get covered here. U.S. covers a single-level ADR for cervical and lumbar. I am a multi-level patient for both areas. An ADR doc here told me i would have to run appeals for the lumbar, and do a hybrid fusion/ADR on the cervical cuz insurance wouldn't cover a double-cervical. Double cervicals in the U.S. are rare, and only one device has been FDA-approved for it's use recently. NO DEVICE has been approved for double lumbar, OR a hybrid-construct in the lumbar. Now i know patients have been successful as of late in getting some of these types of procedures covered. But is that risk of non-coverage worth what i'd be getting?

As i've stated before, i'm for anything that can most closely replace my natural disc. The M6 seems to be the one to go with. For the lumbar, the large keels in the Prodisc combined with the fusion procedure that uses screws makes me nervous. Large keel cuts and screws in the same vertebra to me would be risky and could weaken the vertebra. An ADR-doc here in the U.S i talked to said he doesn't like using Prodiscs and is getting away from them. We're getting some more ADR's approved, but the only one i like is the Mobi-C for cervical. Good, but not as good as an M6, IMHO. Prodisc is the dominant lumbar disc here in the United States, and quite frankly i don't like the concept one bit. Too many issues created from the near-perfect positioning that it requires...and the long-term facet degeneration potential.

I have to get my lumbar done. I won't get a Prodisc put in my lumbar spine. Maybe i'm just being paranoid, but l4/l5 disc is a critical disc and is very active. The thought of putting a prodisc there makes me apprehensive. I'm certain i want an M6, especially in my lower back. My neck is a different matter. I COULD live with Mobi-C's from the United States to save a buck. Although not the M6, I believe it's the next best thing available right now for the cervical spine. The cost to have cervical done the same day as my lumbar with Dr. Clavel is about $16,500 U.S. dollars. My insurance covers at 70% out of network, which could be about $5,300 out of pocket for me for cervical....is that worth the cost of having 2 M6's in my neck as opposed to 2 Mobi-Cs??

A lot of tough questions. What you have put in your body, you have to live with for the rest of your life. I don't know if there is a right answer to any of the problems and concerns we face.
__________________
2013 - MRI and CT scan....DDD L4-S1
left side (where my pain is) interarticularis pars fracture/defect with Spondylolithesis L5 over S1 with 2MM anterior displacement

Feb. 2014 - Hybrid lumbar fusion(l5/S1), ADR(L4/L5)...2-level cervical ADR (C5/C6, C6/C7). Dr. Pablo Clavel of Quiron Hospital in Barcelona, Spain. All M6 implants (PEEK cage and plate from Medtronic at fusion level in lumbar.) SAME DAY OPERATION for both areas of the spine.
Reply With Quote