Zfontana, and others,
Zfontana, sorry that you had a surgeon who put in an ADR when it was directly contraindicated.
IMHO, I think anyone who is going to have major spine surgery needs to really know what they are getting into. They should know the contraindications for the surgery they are having and have reasonable expectations for the outcome.
They should know the possible complications for their surgery.
This is what informed consent is about.
Surgery should never be taken lightly and I believe there are no "minor" operations. There are no guarantees with any surgery. Doctors are not perfect and they can make mistakes. They do.
I am living the pipe dream I guess. March is my anniversary month for my surgery. It has been five years since I got a ProDisc at L4/5. The recovery was tough but I do not regret having surgery. It took me out of the awful pain cycle I was in.
I fought hard to get the surgery I knew was the best one for me and my surgeon thought it was the best, too. One orthopedic surgeon I saw, wanted to do fusion. I asked him what were the chances of success, he told me about 65 percent. Those are not great odds.
I am forever grateful that I ended up with my surgeon after getting several opinions about what to do with my back.
I hope everyone gets as good of a recovery as me or even a better one.
Cheers,
Runner