[GravyBaby]

Hi Lei! Welcome to the forum! I am sorry to hear about your back pain.

I dont know much about Dr. Guyer other than he is an associate of Dr. Blumenthal. Is there any reason you didn't consult directly with Dr. Blumenthal? I called and requested him specifically, I'm sure you can do the same if it would make you feel more comfortable.

I got the green light with him, but decided to go with the co-inventor of the latest FDA-approved lumbar prosthetic, Dr. Rolando Garcia.

If I were you, I would do everything I could to not have L5-S1 fused. It's basically the junction between your upper and lower body. It will restrict you more than any other lumbar level fusion and increase pressure on all your surrounding joints.

As far as your insurance, Aetna is a pretty big carrier. You may be able to submit for reimbursement if you end up having to pay for the surgery yourself. The dual-level is a little bit tricky though. Insurance companies in the US are dragging their feet as hard as they can to not pay for them. Realistically you may not get it covered or reimbursed.

But this is America and you can always fight them and sue them to change the legal precedent because it's a load of malarchy they're not covering these kinds of surgeries in the first place. You could change the world for others in your situation. But that costs lots of money and comes with the risk of losing to a huge corporation with access to lots of high-powered lawyers.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck on your search and journey!