Coolray:
I've been thinking about your post and your question and what at first looks like a straightforward question is actually quite complicated.
As I think about it, the question of having something artificial in your body is quite complicated. First, there are the reality issues: you will have hardware in your body whether you have fusion or artificial disk(s); there are unknowns with the artificial disks, including how long they will last. And, yes, there are psychological issues that at least I am experiencing about having an artificial disk--I woke up from surgery last week rather overwhelmed with the thought of what had just been done (and what I had just allowed to be done). When I saw the X-ray with the disk, there was a real disconnect and feeling that that couldn't be me. During the past week, that overwhelming anxiety has come and gone and I imagine it will get less with time as long as I don't have problems. This is not a topic I've seen discussed much...
But I think that there are other issues you need to be aware of and about which you need to educate yourself. It is not clear how many levels you will have addressed surgically. If you are in a clinical trial, it may be that you will end up with fusion(s) as opposed to the artificial disk(s). Have you thought about the implications of that possibility for you? I don't know very much about the Mobi-C (and hope others more knowledgeable will chime in here), but have you considered the advantages, disadvantages, characteristics, etc. of this particular disk? How many disks has this surgeon implanted and what have been his outcomes?
There are probably other important issues I haven't thought about but as you can see, your post is rather complicated. Making the decision to have surgery is fraught with anxiety and is not easy!
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