Wombatcat,
Welcome to the forum!! I would agree with the suggestions that Jeff and Kelly gave you. I just wanted to add something, since you mentioned Dr. Ritter-Lang. There is a lot of negative press about him on these boards. I'm sure that Harrison, the moderator, would agree. If you search "Nightmare in Stenum", you will get a lot of information about other members experiences with him.
I would first look to get opinions from U.S. surgeons who perform ADR. If you consider the hybrid (one level ADR and fusion at L5/S1), insurance might cover it completely. Just as an aside, I had two levels of lumbar fusion between L3/L5. This was just over 4 years ago (Dec, 2010). I haven't had any lumbar issues since that surgery. I have more issues with my neck, which is what brought me to this forum. While I'm in no way suggestion fusion, my understanding is that L5/S1 is one of the best levels for it. That same level also has some devastating failures with ADR. Don't get me wrong, 95% of people who get ADR at L5/S1 are ok. It's those 5% that suffer badly and often need revision surgery. There is a member named Vicki_In_Florida who you might want to look up.
Good luck!!
Gene
__________________
Car Accident 2002 - Small Herniated Disc C3/C4
1998 Larger Herniation and Cervical Fusion C3/C4
2005 Herniation C4/C5 - 40 epidural steroid injections from Oct 2005, - Oct, 2007
2008 - Foraminotomy at C6/C7 on left side
Feb, 2010 - Cervical Fusion C4/C5
Dec, 2010 - Lumbar Fusion L3/L5
2013 - Bulge on C5/C6; herniation C6/C7 right side
Mar 26, 2013 - Foraminotomy at C6/C7 on right side
May 5, 2015 - ADR with Dr Blumenthal of TBI for C5/C6 using Mobi-C
|