Patient Stories

Personal Stories of Lessons Learned

Best Practices are standard, published operating methods found to produce the best performance and results in a given industry or organization. So, what are ADR seekers – and patients – to do in their quest for guidelines to help shape their plan to wellness?

People might wonder what business patients have defining “best practices” for other patients seeking answers. The truth is, ADR is new, and the medical profession requires time and data to develop factual foundations in which best practices are built.

As of this writing (October 2004), over 13,000 people received artificial disc implants (some sources state 50,000+ worldwide). While each patient has their own “story,” the authentic stories published here reflect a life-changing event in which a person faced complex challenges. Yet they are kind enough to share what they learned with other patients – so others may learn from their tribulations.

While the medical establishment works to define the official guidelines for pre and post op ADR care, we hope that these stories help you consider the many challenges of ADR. Some personal accounts highlight the “worst practices” that each happened upon during their ADR journey – these lessons can be invaluable to people getting acquainted with ADR. We hope these short narratives illuminate issues that may otherwise be obfuscated.

Click on the patient’s stories on the left to read their personal stories. In the future, look for more stories from folks from all around the world!

Other patients’ stories can be found on their own personal web sites. Click here to see a list of patients’ sites.