[twowheelyankee]

Yes Cynlite.....

There were more questions in his draft than there were answers.
In the Treatment alternatives discussion, he suggests 4 things, one of them is ADR at L45 with Active-L. The others include do nothing, get a discography, and the other addressed a concern of mine related to the height of the herniated disc.

Dr. Zeegers is a brilliant man, I have no doubt. I completely give him several passes because English is not his first language and it may take several back and forth emails to clarify questions.

I have a feeling Dr. Zeegers does not have a staff to help him with these international consults. He indicated he had some personal issues in his life that caused the delays. If a doctor is not available, you would expect his staff to update his patients. Unfortunately, he made too many promises and failed to execute on any of them.

My biggest concern was a low Z score and I asked him to comment on this and how if affects ADR. His only comment was, "mayebe somewhat poor".

I am the simplest form of a potential ADR candidate. Single level, no apparent facet issues, lordis good, no other remarkable indicators in my images or reports, save for the bone density.

In conclusion, it is buyer beware. It seems ADR/spinal surgery has become a marketeer's dream. Lots of advertising and promises of easy recovering (compared to fusion), pain-free lifestyle, etc. The other European doctors, who provided free consults (Clavel, Bertagnoli, etc), also indicated I was a candidate solely based on one set of MRI images and had a turn-around time in under a week.

I know it sounds like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth.. one doctor took too long, the other doctors responded too quickly. I also question myself. But you get that feeling, that hunch, where you know something is "hinky". I have never put this much research into any other surgery or doctor. I guess because back surgery has been a crap shoot for so long... 50% patients no better, 50% in more pain. I am hoping/counting on ADR changing these numbers. It has been around long enough in Europe to see some long term numbers. Plus, the risk of surgery outweighs the constant day to day pain and the reduced quality of life.

jim....