New member looking for another doctor to consult with in central Florida

[MER]

Hi everyone,
I've been viewing this site for some time now and have found it to be very informative and appreciate all who have contributed. I have a Herniated disc at C6/7 and degenerative disc disease and have experienced neck problems for over 10 years, I'm 53 now. I'm not sure what caused my condition. I guess you can injure your spine and not know it early on. I was offered spinal fusion 10 years ago but my symptoms were not severe enough to go that route. Back then, my main symptom was cramping between the right shoulder blade and the middle of my back. Recently I'm getting numbness in the fingers and a pain shooting down my right arm so I'm looking at my options as to what to do about this. I’ve tried conservative treatments (chiropractic, physical therapy and epidural injections). I consulted an neurosurgeon the other day and he offered me spinal fusion. I was disappointed when my surgeon told me I was not a candidate for ADR and am looking for another doctor to consult with in central Florida. I'm also considering going to Texas, if necessary, for consultation with Dr. Z. I've been reading a lot about the M6-C and consider that to be the way to go, if I'm a candidate for ADR. I plan to consult with some of the M6 surgeons in Europe, as well.

I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that eventually I'm going to need surgery and am trying to determine: A) how long I can let this go without significant irreversible damage. B) the best course of action. My goal for surgery would be to try to get it fixed right the first time. I'm told that with fusion the odds are pretty good that you will be back for additional surgery on adjacent levels. I would like to avoid the adjacent level cascade. I'm sure the surgeons are great guys, but don't want them to be my best friends.

I've got to go. Best wishes to all of you on the forum. Have a great day!

Mark

A side note about spinal kinetics: I recently saw a press release (December 13, 2011) that “Spinal Kinetics Wins in Synthes Patent Suit” ; “Synthes Patent 7,429,270 is Found Invalid”. This sounds like very good news for those of us considering the M6 in the United States. I wonder how long it will be before they begin the trials.

[Justin]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the Spine Patient Society.

There is a lot of information in the Domestic and International Travel for Spine Treatment Forum that can help give you a few leads regarding additional surgeons you might want to look into.

In regard to spinal fusion vs. artificial disc replacement: both procedures have helped many Spine Patients. One key to successful spine surgery is to see if you are truly a candidate for an operation--if an operation is contraindicated in your situation, listen carefully. Also, it's best to get a few surgical opinions like you are doing to get an idea of what the consensus is regarding your spine and the options available to you.

Good luck and please keep us posted. Let me know if I can help.