[bfalberg]

Mike,

My first post ever. I will be entering my own info shortly.

I went to Germany in April for a hybrid 3-level ADR and fusion with Dr. Bierstedt at ONZ (name of firm).

My hope was to get by back back. So far all of the pain that was in the spine is mostly gone. As you may find out, the recovery is much more difficult than I thought it would be anyway. Lots of nerve pain down both legs all the way to my completely numb big toes.

I'm told this is normal and should abate in some number of months. it is due to the disc spaces being stretched to their original height. In addition, the surgery itself messes with a lot of nerves.

I am off of pain meds after beginning a nerve med called Gabapentin.

I believe that the M6 disc is superior to the ones you can get in the US. DuPuy sued Spinal Kinetics the maker of the M6 for a patent infringement on the "keel" the Prodic-L has. They lost last year, but it kept the M6 off the US market for a decade. Sad, eh?

My most recent x-ray at 7 weeks showed the L4 vertebrae tilted inbetween the two M6 dics. It has me worried, but Dr. Bierstedt says it is normal and will eventually iron itself out as the muscles, ligaments, and nerves adjust.

We'll see. I'd ask lots of questions about how the multi-level intervention can go wrong. I wish I'd asked more.

So, the jury is out, but I am hopeful that I'll be back to running and playing golf in a few months.

Best of luck to you.