[Artificial Disc Replacement / Cervical] Relief After Cervical ADR C5-6 & C6-7 with Spinal Kinetics M6-C Artifical Disc / Nick Boeree, Nuffield Wessex

[Justin]

Congratulations, Tyler!

[runagain]

Tyler,

Great news. Hey, to help some people on here. If you haven't as yet, can you tell us a ball park figure on how much this surgery is costing in the UK?
Like Cyndy, et al, said please be careful and take it easy and follow your surgeon's instructions.
I do not know about you, but bungee jumping has been permanently crossed off my list of to-do's,, along with hang gliding, grocery shopping cart riding as in that J show, extreme mountain skiing and tow-in surfing. Plus that show that is on TV now where people bounce off giant foam something-others, and it looks painful.
Enjoy your neck.
And does your surgeon do backs?

R

[tyler]

Hi R -
Regarding Nick Boeree and the Spine Clinic at Nuffield Wessex, they definitely do work with the back as well - in fact, I believe he's been a key investigator in a number of lumbar trials.
As for costs, mine worked out to a bit over twenty thousand pounds, including all associated costs for surgery and hospital stay - and was worth every pence in my opinion. Once I'm home, I'll be joining the ranks of those dealing with insurance but regardless of outcome, my feeling was that I need to do what's best for me and then fight with the insurer as need be.
As for activities, having already done a free-fall skydive from 15,000 ft to 5,000 and made it safely back on the ground, I can probably survive without bungey jumping - or 'Wipeout' for that matter!
But rest assured, I can't get into nearly that much trouble loafing around London over the next week - well I probably could but I'll try to be good...!
Hoping all's well with you
Best, Tyler

[Marti in Benicia]

Hi all. Tyler and I have the same UK surgeon, artificial discs, and success. Mine are in the C4-5 and C5-6. Surgery date was Oct. 14, 2009

Regarding surgical pain -- I had absolutely NONE related to my ADR surgery. I had no pain killers -- none, zip, zero, nada -- after the general anesthesia wore off. Nor can I take any pain killers except Toradol due to allergies and non-tolerances. (Interesting challange when you're having surgery!) I was waltzing around the hospital the same day and touring Winchester a couple of days later.

Someone asked about how long people waited to do surgery and the corresponding residual pain. I waited until the last possible minute (for multiple reasons). I'd degenerated to lost hand grip, lost balance, lost continence, the whole show of symptoms short of quadrapelgia. Actually it's a miracle I did't slip into quadrpegia, so I don't recommend waiting as long as I did.

I have NO residual pain related to the cervical spine. My relief was instant for DDD-related symptoms.

I also have bilateral neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). It's not uncommon for patients with cervical spine disc issues to also have TOS. If you continue to have pain in the shoulders and arms after ADR, consider exploring whether or not you also have TOS. It takes a fine-tuned eye to diagnose and the patient needs to do their homeowrk about symptoms, etc., so you can help the doctor. (The correct specialty would be neurology.)

Marti in Benicia

[runagain]

Tyler,

I read the stuff on Nick Boeree's site and it was good. I learned a few things I didn't know about, which is saying something because I have been researching this kind of stuff for a while.
Wipeout, of course. My mind is like a sieve because of the medications I am on.
As far as cost, that sounds reasonable. I do wonder how much a one-level lumbar costs. But the info on the site about M-6 was enlightening. It sounds like this is the kind of disc that is the future path. It makes sense to replicate the natural disc as best they can.
My first surgery, I got the disc and then went after the insurance. This time, this is not an option. When I think about it we should be able to get the surgery which is best suited for us in this country, sadly, this is not the case.
It drives me crazy thinking that I should be on my way to recovery now, but I have to fight insurance companies for what is right. Makes no sense at all.

R

[herniated C6-7]

Tyler

Congratulations on your success!

It would be helpful for prospective ADR patients like myself if at some point you could post just how you decided among the different surgeons.

Also as I recall there was a diagnostic issue in your case, pertaining to whether you needed one level or two level ADR. How did you manage to resolve that issue?

[tyler]

Tyler, any chance you could post your X-Ray pics with the 2 M6 disc in? Please...

Hey JK -

Attached is my X-ray with the new shocks (and space) at C5-6 and C6-7.

At Nick Boeree's request, I'm planning to follow up a couple of times over the next year to make sure everything still looks good.

Best,
Tyler

[jss]

As for activities, having already done a free-fall skydive from 15,000 ft to 5,000 and made it safely back on the ground, ...

Jumping out of perfectly good airplanes this shortly after surgery.... I'm impressed.

[tyler]

It would be helpful for prospective ADR patients like myself if at some point you could post just how you decided among the different surgeons.

Also as I recall there was a diagnostic issue in your case, pertaining to whether you needed one level or two level ADR. How did you manage to resolve that issue?

Hi -

As for surgeons, I primarily looked for docs having experience with M6 (and preferably also other devices) and then communicated with both them and patients - and reviewed and talked to folks from Spine Patient Society and from the ADRsupport.org based site in the U.S. (both of which were extremely helpful).

It's always a hard decision, and ultimately a hunch. I did get a good sense of Nick Boeree's responsiveness and care, although that isn't to say it wouldn't have worked out well with the other two docs I was considering (Drs. Ritter-Lang and Clavel). Secondarily, the hospital at Eastleigh was quite pleasant and the interactions were smooth.

As for diagnostics, my situation was pretty clear. Despite the adage about opinions (e.g. ask 5 different surgeons and you'll get 6 different opinons), all of the docs I met with or consulted with indicated that my areas of arm pain and weakness were classic C6&7, and the imaging studies indicated that both relevant discs were affected, whereas the surrounding discs and facets looked reasonably good. That being said, there were some different opinions on treatment - basically ADR, fusion or foraminotomy. More research and talking to folks led me to settle on the first - and so far, so good!

I hope that's helpful.

Let me know how things are going with you.

Best,
Tyler

[tyler]

Jumping out of perfectly good airplanes this shortly after surgery.... I'm impressed.

Haha - that was in the already-done and don't-have-to-repeat category - and fortuntely all went well on my Air New Zealand flight back from London!