re adr
Cheryl,
there are many a doctor/surgeon here in the US that is trained to do ADR lumbar and cervical and did take the time out for this. Still as you stated FDA regulations/restrictions re levels that can be done is a limiting factor in terms of getting multi levels paid for and sometimes even a single level even if recommended by the surgeon.
I believe I'm correct in stating there are surgeons in the US as well that will do multiple levels for cash altho I believe this is even more costly than in Europe let alone other places such as India, Thailand, etc.
I had both fusion and ADR recommended for me re my lumbar area after 2 disectomies but didn't really like any of the recommendations fully enough at the time because I felt I should have vertebroplasty as well and it wasn't offered here. I couldn't afford Europe or anywhere else either tho WC would have picked up the tab at one point.
Now I'm no longer a candidate for ADR in my lumbar spine at the levels that were needing it. My L5S1 autofused and saved me the hassle of having to go for more surgery at least at that level so that was nice.
My cervical spine is somewhat problematic and so far up until at least 2 years ago I wasn't a surgical candidate or surgery wasn't recommended so I guess I'll just see what happens.
And guess what?? I have DDD in my cervical spine as well as throughout my spine. Probably well hastened in those lumbar levels (L3-L5S1) because of discectomies altho I've been told many times that my spine has DDD throughout and it's probably largely hereditary/genetic.
Whoohoo. As long as it doesn't hurt I'm Ok if it's there.
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