Artificial Disc Replacement

  • Thread starter Thread starter tylerjames
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So, Cal..I am sorry to hear about your pain, and struggles with the same group I am struggling with. I wish I had Aetna. They pay for everything, but now I'm sure the President will make sure we get what we need. (kidding)

Actually, this new health care bill is killing my chances to get my surgery approved, and with the facet wear I can't wait much longer to have the ADR surgery. BC/BS is going to get killed finacially, and they will be tightening their belt.

I wonder if ADRs will be covered in 2014 under this new bill ?

If you read my other replys I think you will find out more info about not just my research but others in the same threaRAB.

I wish you luck my friend, and comfort.
 
FF, Good to hear from you again. We are so fortunate to have our cyber world that helps us get through these changes in our lives. Its good to no-longer feel alone. Its funny. My mother lives in Delaware and calls me to check on our snowfall. She keeps getting more than us on the outer Cape also. Ours turns to stormy rain and washes away. This morning was a dusting, then it became icey. We just never know. Mark Twain said "If you don't care for the weather in New England, just wait a minute."
I neglected to answer one particular question you had posed to me and that was in reference to how I was sleeping. I had read in other posts prior to my surgery that people found sleeping upright in a recliner was their only source of comfort for much time following surgery. Having no recliner I already knew that wasn't going to happen! Before surgery and for many months before (9 perhaps) i wasn't sleeping well. Always in pain. Always waking up. I had bought a new bed (my husband had always been happy with a softer bed but my condition made it apparent that softer wasn't better) and new pillows. My pillow is a tiny squishy travel-sized almost nonexistent thing. I use it more as a neck-roll than anything else. My physical therapist last summer had me doing core-strengthening exercises with these wide strips of rubber band. They are color coded for power. I started on the orange one (least resistance) and was moved up to the green one before my health plan qualifying allowance of visits ran out. I tried to continue to perform the exercises I had been taught at home but was lazy.
I sleep well these days. It isn't easy at first to sleep in the stiff collar but I am accustomed to it now. Takes the romance straight out of life though. I have the pink foam Philadelphia collar for the shower still. Today is my 51st birthday and I know that I need to keep plugging away at moving forward. My joints and bones have issues and it will only degenerate more if I don't keep my muscles holding up their part of the bargain. Gravity hasn't been kind either. My heath plan offers a gym rebate which is one of the reasons I went back after a 6 year hiatus. I need to make at least a 4 moth continual calendar year commitment to qualify for the rebate. Im such a rebate/ coupon clipper type that I went for the offer. Its good for my head too. I put on my iPod and pound away at the elliptical machine with my Workout Playlist and feel 30 years younger for 20 minutes. That is a high I cannot find any other way. Thats for sure. I take my Valium at 5 am along with my 2 tylenol and my coffee before heading off to the gym (they open at 6am weekdays). Hopefully wont need another valium till bedtime. Tylenol still every 6 hrs.
I had made a formal request through my hospital for my recorRAB but haven't had them sent to me yet. I am curious to read through them. I find it helps to be informed when meeting new doctors to be able to tell them as much as I know about my medical past. I am curious to see my x-rays. I actually don't know what was put in place of my discs. You refer to some form of bone protein. I was expecting a wafer of cadaver bone but don't know for sure. Just REALLY glad I didn't get the artificial full-function modern disc replacements offered. I cannot really tell you what my Range of Motion is. Im nervous to look around too much. I will wait for my surgeon to test me and get the real answer. No more news till then. Thanks again for the contact. 2Pages
 
Hi Fraujoolie,

I feel for you and your pain and frustration for trying to get yourself some relief. My pain is a little better as I am 5.5 months out now from my partial micro disecktomy, but things are not as I would like them to be. Thank you for that suggestion, and by the way, what is SAHM? I think I am going to wait a few more months and see how I progress before considering any more surgury. My Nerosurgon's nurse said it won't get better.

I had another doctor tell me (not a surgon, but just a friend who is a psychaiatrist) that if I waited a few years that I could probably have a new disc grown from stem cells. A few weeks a go, I saw a report where this veteranarian injected stem cells into this dogs joint/cartlidge area from cells processed from the same dog. 40 months later, the dog had full freedom of motion, and regenerated cartiledge.

Keep me apprised of your journey.

Thanks
SoCalMan
 
Hey SoCalman,

SAHM = Stay at Home Mom

Thanks for your reply. If you have the time, I'd love to get your input on my other post I've given, as you are much ahead of me on this road, and have seen a lot of it.

I also heard of stem cell research, and that's really promising to me. From what I've read, it's not even a big-time surgery to have something like this done.

I've been mulling this over, and I've decided to not have the discogram. At least not yet. I'm just not ready. I've been through a lot (haven't we all?), and i'm afraid it would be so painful, that it would be traumatizing to me. I just can't do it. I canceled it today, and am meeting with a new chiropractor tomorrow afternoon. He's in El Segundo, and specializes in something he calls 'Muscle Balancing.' He claims that a misalignment can not be fixed and stabilized, if the muscles are tight and holding/pulling the disc/joint/etc out of place. It sort of makes sense to me, in the sense that I had this different PT once (MedEx/Mackenzie Therapy) that did the same thing. The machines they had me on isolated just those muscles around the vertebrae and hips, and the therapy worked. It fixed my sciatica -- and I only get it now, if I've been sitting in a car, or on a plane, for more than an hour or two. Otherwise, I go about my days w/o sciatica anymore. They wanted me to do weekly "maintenance," after my PT was done, but we moved across the country, and that was that. Anyways, this chiro wants to work out the tight muscles. I'm going to give him a try, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Keep in touch,
Fraujoolie
 
MCE,

If you search ADR and support you will find another site that is full of people that have had ADR with both good and bad outcomes. They might be able to offer you some more advice. God luck and keep us posted how it goes.

Dlib
 
I'm very much in your situation. I've been actively dealing with herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1 and a pinched nerve for around 2 years and finally I get to the point where more than one surgeon says that I'd be a perfect candidate for artificial disc replacement and my insurance company has at least so far, denied me.

I intend to appeal this decision with everything I have but in the meantime I was considering trying the DRX 9000 machine which I know some say is a fraud but for others it has worked so I think it's just something that works for some and not at all for others. Of course there is also spinal fusion surgery but being young and very physically active, it does not seem like a smart choice unless there is absolutely nothing left to do.

I would probably pay for artificial disc replacement out of my own pocket before getting spinal fusion surgery if I can reasonably pay for it because you know, your back is your life, particularly if you're someone who puts the highest emphasis on sports and physical activity like I do. I'm open to anyone's suggestion but it seems like a lot of people are in the same situation with their insurance company, who will try to claim that ADR is "experimental" and "risky" when in fact all they care about is that they don't want to pay for it regardless of anything, but I guess I'm stating the obvious.
 
Fraujoolie,

That was extremely considerate of you to think of me and thank you for giving me that tip and advice. I have been doing a lot better, and I have even had a couple of weeks with no leg pain. My lower back is only a little sore, and it usually goes away about 10 minutes after I've gotten out of bed. Some mornings there is no pain at all, not even for the first 10 minutes. What's even better is that I am doing more activity.

I just decided to set it in my mind that since I was having pain, that I was going to start doing some more, low impact activity (no running, jumping, or heaving lifting). Some the activity I do is more walking, clirabing up and down the ladder doing home improvement projects, bending a little. I also had set it in my mind that some day, somehow, I would get better, whether that was through some sort of advanced surgery, or ADR, or whatever.

My next goal is to see where I am at in another 6 months. I'm 6 months post micro-discektomy now, and am doing much better. The last couple of days I've had some slight pain in my hamstring area, but it goes away if I sit down and rest for a while. I forget where you are at (pre-op, or post-op) and the type of surgery, but I'll go back and read your earlier post. I do recommend not getting ANY surgery unless it is the final option. I am thinking that if I do get anything done, I am hopefully able to do it far enough into the future such that stem-cells can be used to grow a new disc, or repair the partial disc I have left at S1-L5. At this point, I am glad the insurance denied me, because I think any surgery, especially ADR is risky, as in the prognosis for a pain-free, or reduced pain is not certain.

Thanks again for your post and your concern. Please everyone, keep contributing your experiences. This site is an awsome source of information.
 
Update

I am 4 weeks post op from the Bonati Spinal Institute. I had 4 surgeries over a 3 week period. Other than some tenderness and nerve activity at the incisions sites, I feel great.

When I was researching laser surgery, I used the same theory as I did when I needed 3 lurabar disc replaced. I knew I wasn't going to have a fusion, and after extensive research I settled on the Prodisc ADR. Next I was determined to find the pioneer of the Prodisc, and end up in Austria with Dr Bertagnoli. Success, my lurabar and leg pain has been gone since 2004.

When my fusion at C5-6 (lost the FDA lottery for a Prodisc-C), destroyed my neigrabroadoring discs, BCBS didn't want to pay for the Prodisc-C. Hence the laser surgery idea. I went to the pioneer, Dr Bonati. I walked in in August with neck, shoulder, arm, and hand pain in both arms, and now have no pain. Bonati's also corrected a host of thoracic issues. My cost was $500 for out of net work Blue Cross. It is the best $500 I have spent.

There were many skeptics when I wanted the Prodisc, and even more then I was looking at laser surgery. Think outside the box, more open surgery isn't always the issue.

P.S.- While I was at Bonati's, which by the way was a wonderful experience, I met a woman who was there from Canada having LSI surgery problems corrected.
 
My appeal was denied a few weeks ago. I continued with a lot of pain until this past week. My pain has diminished. I hope it continues to do so, as no surgery would be my best hope. Meanwhile, for the long-term I am hoping that I can have stem-cell therapy to regenerate a new disc. I just saw how a veterinarian harvested stem cells from a dog's hind quarter fat cells, then injected them into the leg joints where after 40 months all the cartilage had been regenerated from the injected Stem cells.

Please keep posting information about your cases.

Thanks
socalman
 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I am about 1 1/2 years younger than you are. I appreciate your reply. It certainly helps to have such wonderful support from others. I guess I was just hoping for some progress. Psychology I needed to hear that there was some bone growth and that my ROM was better than it is. Since my surgery I have tripped up the stairs and had the 24 hour stomach bug. I actually called the surgeon's office because I was scared and in pain. Pretty much they said that unless you fall down a full flight of stairs or are in a car accident the hardware should be fine. They were wonderful and said each time if I would like to come in for x rays to make sure I could. I refrained. It was nice to see the xrays when I went yesterday. I have a copy of my x rays showing the plate, the swelling that is still there. By the looks of things, I may always feel as if there is a lump in my throat. They should have counter sunk the plate so that it doesn't stick out farther than the vertebra. I know that is not realistic. I don't particularly care for cold weather, but considering how down in the dumps I was most of the day. . . my husband convinced me to get dressed and go for a walk. Being in the 20's was cold so it was a short 15 minute walk. But I guess it was good to get out. I am lucky we do have a recliner both built into the couch and a separate one. So I have a choice. Tried sleeping in the bed, not too good. I was given a script for Arabien and may try it. I also have tried the tiny squishy travel-sized pillow that is like a neck roll. I just seem to get more support and sleep better in the recliner, it just limits my husbanRAB ability to watch tv in the den. I may ask my health plan about a rebate for a gym. I would have never thought about that. Although I have never been a gym type of person. I walk alot although not now and I am lucky that i do not have a problem with my weight. I spoke to my surgeon;s office with someone in the medical recorRAB department. You may want to just give them a call. I knew what was going to be placed in my neck. I asked to see a sample of both the cage that had bone protein and bone fragments in it and the plate that was to be screwed into my vertebra. Very interesting. My son enjoyed bring my x rays to school to show his anatomy and physiology class today. He has been a real help (17 years old)
Thanks again for your worRAB of encouragement. I am going to try and stay positive and keep my chin up (LOL). Hope eyouhad a great day.
 
Wow! You went to Austria? And I thought traveling 2+ hrs to get to my hospital was a hassle. I havent had laser surgery brought up as an option. You wanted Prodisc. Some of what I read has said it moves, comes apart in time and can create dangerous situations. It was termed "catastrophic failure". Migrating endplates creating life threatening situations in every case. And that it a product more tied up with trying to recoup the investors money and gain them a profit than it is to assist those of us in pain and need with our disability.

If anyone can give me better information i would be extremely grateful. Thank you. 2Pages.
 
Damn! Best of luck to you with ADR. I simply wasn't brave enough. My surgeon said that other countries were well advanced in these procedures. I have been back at the gym for the last two days (cardio-vascular only) but feel much better. The endorphins are pumping! There is no need to continue living in pain and making your world and life smaller. Many health situations people have are not treatable. Ours is. Keep the faith! 2Pages
 
Someone mentioned that they knew someone who did well. They key is long term viability of the artificial disc and that's where the information in medical publications tenRAB to show it does not have good longevity and can develop other problems. I have a friend who had a failure of it but had to have her back fused this year about 2 yr after the artificial disc as it was erabedded wrong and too deeply. It can't just be popped out so they stabilized that level via fusion.

Many people get upset at insurance for not covering stuff like the ADR, but part of the reason is they don't find that it works long term and they have studies showing revision surgeries needed. Thus they don't want to cover it as it's not the best option known. Fusion is not for everyone, but for those who meet the criteria it's often the best option and the most proven.
 
These devices are just about all entirely experimental. Who would want something that is so new? It takes quite a while to shake out all of the problems with anything new, especially in medical care.

I'd think twice before getting any operation, drug or device that is new. I don't want to be a guinea pig and wind up with a terrible problem because of it.

I had a discectomy and fusion back in the late 1970's and I am happy to say that it has served me well, all of these years. I was pretty young for needing this surgery, but apparently it does happen, to more people than you would think.
 
My insurance actually did approve the ADR in Dec 2010 but all of my research led me to fear the placement. I was scared and knew that positive attitude would be a big part of my success. I know my surgeon was upset with me for backing out if this newer procedure but I finally got internal peace when I told him I wanted the tried-&-true ACDF. I also didn't think, according to my research that my body was a good candidate. Let alone my doubts about the actual product. I am 5 weeks post-op and recovering according to schedule. Grateful to be able to share with you all. These Health BoatRAB have been very helpful for me.
 
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