[jss]

SD,

Condolences on your miserable story!

First, let me congratulate you on surviving a severe MRSA infection. In 2005 an acquaintance died from a double plural MRSA infection, as did a friend's wife just last week. I'm guessing that at the time that you were otherwise in very good health?

I had four rounds of those ESI's, all of which were very helpful. The C6/7 herniation was bad enough that I began developing myelopathy at that level and had to rush into surgery (within a month). I would encourage you to keep a close eye on your condition as it follows to reason that a disc bulge that is "significantly larger" than it was when it was "abnormally large" might be predisposed to causing a spinal cord pathology. That was my experience.

While ADR is usually preferable to fusion, if it comes to a fusion, even a hasty one, it's not the end of the world. When I had just one fusion, there was no noticeable loss of motion and in your case you will very likely to have an immediate relief of symptoms. Of course the down side is that you'll predispose yourself to needing another fusion within the next several years.

Hoping for quick relief (from an ADR).

Good luck, Jeff