Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

[Adrienne]

Surgeon # 1 says ADR
Surgeon #2 says Fusion
Surgeon #3 (whom I saw today) says my back looks great and to hang out for yet another year to see if something more radiologically definitive emerges.

Talk about ferschmuddled .

Going to see ONE more at Stanford next week; I figure he'll have to side with one of the above opines so at least I'll have a consensus.

I remarked to one surgeon that it seemed like such a crap shoot and she said, "I prefer to call it the art of medicine but, yeah, crap shoot is a good word."

Thank you for listening to my vent. Carry on.

Hi Adrenne

I know the feeling, The same thing is happening to me. Dr.Z B, in germany still need more test? Stenum ADR one level With other bad levels.

I think holding out as long as we can and hope for better options in the future.

Take Care

Gil

[Toebin]

Best of luck with your decision making Adrienne, it certainly isn't an easy process. The bottom line is you are the one that knows your pain and body the best. Take what the doctors say and plug it into what you know to be the facts FOR YOU.

We'll be here to help should you have questions along the way. It's a very tough process that you are in right now.

[trucklt]

Medicine is so subjective in many ways. Here's a compilation of my surgical consultations over the years for a DDD at L4/L5 as confirmed by a discogram.

#1 (New York) IDET failed (expensive roll of the dice). Time to do a fusion.
#2 (New York) Time to do a fusion. Didn't even want to bother asking insurance about ADR even though he had some some Prodisc work. Nasty and arrogant.
#3 (New York City) Liked this guy and he wanted to do a Charite on me. Insurance squashed the whole deal in 2005.
#4 (Asheville, NC) "Your MRI doesn't look that bad and I don't operate just for back pain."
When asked what I should do after 10 years of increasing back pain and debility, he said I should hang out until I'm older and maybe my pain would peak out. Useless!
#5 (Charlotte, NC) Went over options of fusion and ADR. Knowledgeable and confident without being arrogant. I'm going with this one next month for ADR.

I hope that somewhere along the way you will find a surgeon that you have confidence in.
Ask him how his outcomes compare for both ADR's and fusions. Mine says his outcomes and revision rates are about the same for both. He has been practicing neurosurgery for 10 years and been doing ADRs for the past 4+. He was honest enough to say that problems requiring revisions of ADRs may come up the longer he has been implanting them. Nothing is guaranteed. I've known a few people in the past several years who have had fusions and they've had to back for revisions. Only one, an elderly neighbor, didn't have any revisions. Unfortunately, she died of unrelated causes less than 5 years after her fusioin.

It all boils down to the questions all of us are asking ourselves:
Are we willing to put up with the pain and limitations on our lives?
Are we willing to wait until all the long-term implications of ADR are known?
Are we willing to wait until something better than ADR or fusion comes along?

Best of luck and let us know how things work out.

[Adrienne]

All the votes are in.

Surgeon # 4 recommended fusion but added that he couldn't really argue with ADR or hanging out and waiting.

He thinks that ADR is still too young and that the long term results just aren't there yet. He thought that in my case, since it's L5/S1, I wouldn't notice the lack of flexibility. He also added that the rest of the discs are in good shape and will likely hold up, and that if they did go the surgical technology would be vastly improved by then.

So I'm thinking.....in light of the ADR unknown, in light of 60K savings or/and insurance hassle, and that my outcome should be good either way, that I'm going to go with the fusion. I think....but I always agree with whomever I consulted last in the same way that my favorite dog breed is the breed I'm playing with at the moment.

I rang upstairs for a devine revelation but apparently the gods are out to lunch. Not even my husband, a physicain who has a staunch opinion on everything from politics to peanut butter, has anything definitive to offer, just that any decsion I make will be a good one. But he means from a logistical standpoint, not necessarily the outcome....which of course is the thing.

I applaud all of you who've actually stepped to the plate and took a swing. Not so easy.

Back to my ouija board....

Hi Adrienne

I agree with you.I will also choose fusion over ADR at L-5 S-1.

Fusion is forever, ADR ???? with revision fusion.

Best of luck

Keep us posted

Gil