Cervical Spine -- Have tried injections and conservative therapy.

[Dave]

HI Sandy,

Welcome to SPS. There are some really great people here that can help support you in your journey.

I have two Prodisc's implanted in C5-6 and C6-7, which are both doing great. My C3-4 and C4-5 are also progressively getting worse, but like you they are not causing any problems as of now, other than pain. One thing my surgeon told me was that if there are no symptoms, (numbness and loss of strength) that he would hold off on those levels for now. The two levels he did do were so bad that I had lost 50-60% of the strength in my left arm as well as numbness in both arms and hands. Now if "I" had 3 bad levels, with pain, I would find a surgeon who will take care of you. A 3 level fusion is not a great way to go, but a 3 level ADR can be very difficult. Have you looked into a hybrid, ADR and fusion? That could be a viable option also.

Research and support can greatly help in your quest. Do as much as you can, it will pay off in the end.

Good luck and we hope to hear from you often.

[Katie]

Hi Sandy, you posted this.."Do you guys think I should go to each one of them and compare what they all say, is that how most people do this? "

I can't speak for everyone, but I believe that most of us got better answers by doing this. When I was bogged down by several different opinions, I tried one more very respected surgeon to 'break the tie' so to speak.

Every darn one of these doctors seem to have a different opinion, which makes our decisions so very difficult. But if we can take the average of several opinions, we often start to see a 'trend' developing. But make sure it is from the best doctors available, not those who are not familiar with up to date procedures. There seems to be an awful lot of those out there :-(

[Pain-In-Fl]

why if I don't have numbness or weakness in the limbs, and I only have pain that most Dr's don"t want to operate. My pain is so bad I feel like doing nothing other than lay in bed or lay on the couch, unless I have a Dr's appt. I have always been a very active person, hiking, biking, yoga, working out, walking, swimming etc... I am unable to do any of this anymore. My pain 24/7 is from a 5 to a 9 level. I am looking into someone that does Hybrid, and have recieved a few good references to Dr's that do this. I just hope that I find someone that is willing to do it, becuase of the pain I'm in, I don't think I can wait until I start having numbness and weakness in my limbs, I may never have that symptom, as I have had pain for 9 years now with the last year being severe. Sorry if I am rambling, but I am just so frustrated, and the last 2 days my pain has been around an 8. I have no life any more!

These little Smilies are great, I think I just got it off my chest with that little guy LOL.

[rhatzy]

I know of a couple of people with a 3 level cervical ADR and they are doing pretty good. I have a 2 level lumbar and am pain free. For me, a 2 level fusion was not the answer and nothing I had done did any good and I was unable to work. The ADR was my best shot at getting better. I found that there aren't many people here in the states with the experience of multi level ADR. I know of a Delta pilot who had a 4, yes a 4, Level Cervical ADR and got back to flying as a captain. I am a captain for american airlines and without the ADR, I would still be out of work. You might have to look overseas for your answer, especially Germany.

Mark

[ajj1001]

why if I don't have numbness or weakness in the limbs, and I only have pain that most Dr's don"t want to operate. My pain is so bad I feel like doing nothing other than lay in bed or lay on the couch, unless I have a Dr's appt. I have always been a very active person, hiking, biking, yoga, working out, walking, swimming etc... I am unable to do any of this anymore. My pain 24/7 is from a 5 to an 9 level.

If you communicate this to a surgeon and explain what you can't do because of the pain then that can really help them understand how the pain affects you. Try describing how you used to spend your leisure time each week and what this has deteriorated to. Just saying you have pain does not seem to get through to them exactly how much you have lost.

I find writing things down to take into appointments help ie diary of pain levels, activities I wanted to do but couldn't due to incapacitating pain, medications taken etc. Doctors work off evidence so the more specific the better!