New to ADR - considering surgery in April

[jss]

There have been many complaints on this site of various European surgeons offices not replying to their queries. I was just impressed that he replied, and did is so quickly.

[Lillyth]

Originally Posted by Harrison

Nice topic, many good points by you all. Quick comments (sorry, still unpacking and doing admin stuff). Hot links herein:

1. Simply studying the Gerson Therapy will help you. Any parts of it that one adopts will help improve one’s health. Don’t need to go to Mexico to practice... you can get an in-home aid or just learn from it!

2. The Gerson Therapy has helped CURE many other degenerative diseases, especially ones involving arthritis. People in this community have gotten better just from juicing! If you REALLY want to avoid surgery, you will muster the discipline to do this program and obtain truly inside-out better health.

3. Agreed Bebe. The FDA is the largest for-profit, non-profit in America. The contamination from dirty money is well known and is the source of America’s biggest drug problem. Wellness problem!

4. Spinal DDD is multi-factorial, but microbial infection plays a big role. I explain some of this in my recent film (Why Am I Still Sick), but this is a long topic that explains in more detail that uses studies spanning 20 years; it's focus on infection as a component of spinal disease...dis-ease.

Oh, one more thing. I just presented at the Annie Appleseed conference, where I met the kindest, smartest people focused on cancer prevention & treatment. It was an honor to present there -- and learn from people who really understand how to treat patients from a truly whole perspective. Too much more to share, other than I will attend next year since I learned so much that was both new and validating.

OK, ga night. Peaceful rest to all of us.

Wow! You made that?!

And yeah, I cured my thyroid problem by changing my diet to mostly raw, so food is the way to go!

[NJ Gene]

Hi All,

Thank you all for your recommendations. Yesterday at this time I was all set to go to Germany for ADR. However, I decided to wait until I saw my orthopedic surgeon who performed my last fusion. He explained to me that the bulge I have at C5/C6 which is directly below the fusion is just that, a bulge. Most adults have this somewhere in their spine as they age, even if they never had surgery. He agreed that I needed some surgical intervention at C6/C7. He recommended another foraminotomy. By doing this, it's possible that I'll never need future surgery again. However, he assured me that it does not prevent me from getting ADR in the future at that level. He also told me that if I were adamant on getting ADR, he knew a colleague in the Baltimore area who does it. To me it seems like a no brainer. This is covered by insurance and will take of my symptoms, possibly for good. If I ultimately need ADR, it's still a possibility for the future. It might even be at a point in time where insurance will cover it in the U.S. Meanwhile, Kelli at Dr. Bierstedt's office is trying to scare me by saying that in a foraminotomy, they are totally messing with the structure of the spine. She even had a video for me to look at. This video was of the lumbar spine not the surgical spine. All I know is I come from a family of doctors, and I already had one foraminotomy in the neck. Not a big deal. Perhaps in the lumbar region, it's a bigger deal because it bears more weight. I hope to have this procedure done in about 2 to 3 weeks. It will be scheduled early next week for the soonest possible date that the surgeon and hospital can get me in.

[jss]

Gene,

That's an important point to remember; that a foramenotomy won't preclude ADR in the future. From the fact you've laid out that sounds like a reasonable call to me.

Good luck, Jeff

[NJ Gene]

Originally Posted by jss

Gene,

That's an important point to remember; that a foramenotomy won't preclude ADR in the future. From the fact you've laid out that sounds like a reasonable call to me.

Good luck, Jeff

Jeff, thank you. I believe Kelli, the American liason from Dr. Bierstedt's office, was just trying to scare me even the she said what she did, because "she cared about me" She's currently going to school to study to be a chiropractor. It's interesting, because they (chiropractors) very often have the opposite opinion of spine surgeons and think they can accomplish most things by manipulation. Another thing of interest, she had her surgery by Dr. Ritter-Lang. She will never volunteer that. She was lucky and got better by him. Yet she will bad mouth Sue Hart (Dr Ritter-Lang's U.S. liason) on Dr Bierstedt's website.

[annapurna]

An amusing comment by one neurosurgeon about chiropracty for degenerative disk disease was that it was like attempting to get the jelly back into the donut by stomping on it in a different way. If you'll tolerate a short stand on the soap box, chiropractic care has it's place but I still regard it as a means for dealing with acute flare-ups, not chronic conditions that are best just fixed.

[kimmers]

Gene,

I tried posting a reply to your thread this week but lost it and just gave up at that point. But I am replying now.

Foraminotomy and laminectomy can cause instability in the spine, but that doesn't always happen.

IMHO, the less invasive, minimal surgery you can do, the better. The fact that you already have had a foraminotomy is a plus as you know what it involves.

I forget if you got a discogram or not. If your pain is coming from a disc itself i.e. a pain generator, you might not get relief with a procedure like this. Otherwise, I think you are making an informed decision.

I have always figured that the technology is just going to improve so why not wait for the "biggie" operation if you can. Makes sense.

I will give you some advice that whatever you do, pick the best surgeon you can. I think a lot of people here think this is the most important factor. One of the reasons we get so many varied opinions when we see multiple doctors for spine treatment is that the spine is incredibly complicated.

If you are like me, and want to know as much as possible to make informed decisions, I ordered a book a couple months ago and just opened it up and it is in an easy to read format.
It is called Handbook of Spine Surgery and it won't break your back reading it as it is a paperback and fits in your hands.

Written in 2012; among the authors are Dr. Praveen Mummaneni and Dr. Alexander R. Vaccaro. These are pretty common names in a lot of studies.

It is written for doctors but it explains well the different procedures for the cervical and lumbar spine.

That is my two cents Gene. Happy to see you are on the way to getting some relief.

And you have to remember no doctor is infallible; often we place them on a pedestal and they put their pants on the same way we do. They are human and they make mistakes.

Take care,

Kimmers

[NJ Gene]

Kimmers,

The surgeon I have is one of the best in the country. He did the 2nd fusion on my neck 3 years ago and he did one on my lumbar spine as well. This surgeon happens to be African-American and is considered one of the top 10 surgeons in the country in this category. While he doesn't personally perform ADR yet, he has friends who do. He even said that one of his friends who is in the Baltimore area would come up to NYC to do ADR on me if I was adamant on doing it. Insurance might not cover it, but he could do it for less than what I would spend on my own in Europe. However, my surgeon told me if it was his neck, he would do a foraminotomy. He assured me that it would not rule out ADR in the future if warranted. Honestly, I'm not nearly in as bad shape as others who post on here. While we are behind Europe on ADR, largely because of the FDA, I do believe it will become more commonplace here in the next decade. I also believe insurance will ultimately cover multiple levels. Finally I believe Harrison has a good point, if something goes bad outside of the country accountability is not so easy.

Thanks again for your advice.

Gene

[Lillyth]

I'm glad everything is working out for you Gene!

On a side note, I do want to point out that travel insurance (if you get the right type) will cover you if anything goes wrong. I have a half a million in travel insurance, and they will cover anything that goes wrong with the surgery. So you are not as up a creek as you might think.

[Jcarchitect]

HI everyone,

I am really enjoying reading everyone's posts on this site it is incredibly informative, exciting, and supportive all at the same time.

I am looking at having my L5-S1 replace in may at the Texas Back Institute with Dr. Zigler. I have had major leg pain for some time now afeter doing any kind of impact. Running and jumping is out of the question. With an 8 year old son at home it is time for me to get my life back. I have been talking to numerous doctors about what to do and of course they all have there opinion. I have been diagnosed with ddd at l5-s1 only and have good discs above and below. According to dr. Zigler I fit right in the "Sweet spot" of people who get the best results. I have always lived and active life style and really want to get back to running and horsing around with with my son.

I would appreciate any input you all can offer, good and bad. I've done a lot of research on TBI and Dr. Zigler they really seem to be top notch.

Thank's in advance!