Biersdadt vs. Clavel

[pittpete]

Just an update on my situation and hope it helps anyone considering surgery in Europe also.
Dr. Zeegers called me today at home. Had a nice long conversation with him.
He does charge a consultation fee to continue and i'm waiting for the email with all the details.

[ian]

Fortunately, Dr. Clavel and Dr. Bierstedt came back with the same recommendation for me, so I didn't have the very serious decision you're being forced to make concerning your diagnosis.

But I'll explain why I chose Dr. Bierstedt. First, his credentials are legit. With his background my decision was easy to make. He's confident, but there's no ego with him. He and I spoke on the phone and I liked him on a personal level as well as professionally. Face to face he's personable and informative.

Second, he and his team have built a comprehensive program that makes sure the patient is taken care of from the moment you land until they drop you off at the airport to come home. The staff at the hospital took great care of me. Then once I left for Medicos, the rehab facility, I was taken care of by a large team of nurses, doctors, massage therapists, physical therapists, etc. Every day my doctor and I sat down and went over my progress. The nurses checked my incision each day, and twice I had blood drawn for testing to make sure there was no infection. I had twice daily massage and trigger release therapy, as well as PT, occupational therapy and personal training. And their gym is pretty sweet.

Everything was covered, from transportation to and from the airport, my meals, hotel, you name it. So my decision to go with Dr. Bierstedt involved not only his surgical expertise, but also their entire approach to patient care. I'd do it all over again if I had to.

[Jerry5]

I have had Four opinions, Two of them are disabled by the FDA.

What I mean, is that the USA will not allow ADR, Yet, one surgeon, stated that they were seeing more artificial discs fail, I wonder what these types are?

People are having a lot of issues with the ball and socket type, they move 'too much' and not natural like the M6.

The movement puts too much motion on the facet joints.

My initial evaluation with Bierstedt, was the L45-L51, M6, but I have had a discectomy/Laminectomy/foramen at the L2-3 level. This looks good on the MRI, 10 months later, but can cause pain, and still get shooting pain, (that lateral femoral is gone/damaged severly) down the leg.

Not really crazy about getting cut open, and I would require two incisions, but you have think, if they go in the first time, you really want two things settled.

One, they take care of ALL issues the first time, and Two, you have the best outcome.
If the Dr can lift this L5-S1, then go for it, you will have the disc height and movement.

The M6 comes in different sizes, the endplates, and the plates have keels to grab the bone, to stabilize, they are coated, so ossification (bone growth on the endplates) takes place, also, the endplates have different (lorthotic) angles for aligning the ADR.

M6-L Artificial Lumbar Disc | Spinal Kinetics

Here are a few pictures at the L5-S1 level.

It is a hard decision, of this, there is NO confusion there.

[henry4956]

Pete, I would be very surprised if Dr Zeegers recommends a 3 lev adr. I had 2 recommendations for 3 level adr and then Dr Zeegers disagreed. He did not say it but he implied that 3 consecutive adr's takes it to another level of risk. I still wont know till the day before my surgery exactly what combination I will get. The only thing I know is adr at L5-S1. L4-5 is probably 50/50 fusion vs adr. And if it's fused I most likely will have a adr at L3-4. If L4-5 is an adr. then Zeegers thinks we leave L3-4 alone

[Jerry5]

pittpete,

Did you make any progress on your decision?

btw, that is 'lordotic' angle of the lumbar.

[pittpete]

Jerry, just saw this...
Sorry i didnt respond earlier.
I don't know what i'm going to do
I change my mind weekly.
I wish we had more info on the activ-L here in the uS..

[drewrad]

Pete, just compared MRIs again in my intro thread in noobies. Our sacral slopes look pitched the same. I may have to raise that issue again with Dr C just to see what he says.

Know what you mean about ActivL. I like it. I also like the M6. I like the ActivL much better than ProDisc due to forward translation, facet saver. I also like the alternate no keel variety. Just three small teeth in front. That's the one dr Z prefers too since it saves the vertebrae from damage. At least last time I talked with him. I agree.

[pittpete]

Any news on whats going on with the Activ-L?
I might be making an appointment with Dr. James Yue from Yale soon.
He was in the FDA trial for the Activ-L, i'd like to pick his brain.
The way i feel now though i can't get myself to consider going to Europe and dropping 50 grand.