[Maria]

When I was considering a 3rd lumbar surgery and after hearing I needed a 3 level lumbar fusion (back in 2000) I decided to wait a bit because I was just reading about ADR in Europe and success with this.

My OSS didn't do disc replacement and didn't recommend it (until he did start doing them) so I sought other opinions in 2003 and 2005 from surgeons that did do ADR. I was a candidate at first (in 2003 for ADR at L4 and L5S1) and then by 2005 for ADR at L4 and fusion at L5S1 (maybe at both levels but insurance would have only reimbursed for the hybrid).

While I didn't have the surgery done I would at least recommend seeing a spine specialist that offers the surgery and is proficient at it (has done loads with loads of expertise).

Good luck with whatever you undertake with your spine. It's a lot to deal with though if you aren't in an emergent situation regarding surgery perhaps you can take a bit more time to check out your options a bit further.