DDD L3-S1: looking at Stenum

[WPKat]

Corry,

Although it's quite time consuming; research is key. Knowledge is power! The more you know and understand about your condition, the better you off you will be when you talk to medical professionals.

I didn't just take their word for it, I wrote and communicated with more than a few former patients of Stenum; from the list of references they provided and via Forum posts (like this one). I needed to hear from them that I would be in good hands before I jumped on a plane and flew to a foreign country for major surgery.

You can check out my posts about my recovery experience under surgical outcomes; I am 4+ months post-op and recently posted an update. You can also ask me whatever question you like.

Good luck!

K

[rhatzy]

I have 2 maverick discs at L4-5 and L3-4. It will be 3 years in January and doing great. There are many well qualified surgeons in the world. I picked Stenum because, number 1, they were using the Maverick disc which I wanted. Also, Ritter -Lang was very experienced. Also I talked with many people on this site and another who had gone to Stenum and were very pleased. However, I knew that my chances of a good outcome was about 65 to 70% and that was a hell of a lot better than the other 2 options I had.

Stenum got back to me within a week of me sending my MRI's and told me what they could do along with a list of openings for surgery. I picked one but later had to cancel and subsequently had 2 other dates before I settled on the final date. Stenum was very nice and understanding. In fact, I didn't give them money until the day before my surgery. I was still at that time pretty scared and not sure if I was going to go thru with it. No one pushed me. It was the discusion I had with Ritter-Lang the day before surgery, that lasted about an hour, that made up my mind. He answered all my questions and concerns. The whole staff was great.

Anyway, like I said, you have to be comfortable with the disc you choose and the surgeon and there are many good surgeons in Brazil, Spain and England that use a variety of discs like the Maverick and M6.


Mark