[treefrog]

Thanks so much runner, it is fitting advice. And I do think I should get a third opinion.

I have my appointment for a second opinion, this Wednesday. He does want another x-ray, which will be done just before I see him. But, I might ask either him, the other surgeon, or my PM doc to have another MRI done. I do think that is a really good idea, to see what kind of changes have happened over the last year. I too was worried about the endplate changes, as I think that might be something that might affect the ability to have ADR surgery done. The first surgeon said that the changes that would affect my ability to have ADR surgery wouldn't happen for more than a year, but I am still worried about it. How can he make that judgement when the MRI has only been done once. The only comparison would be between the MRI done in 12/07 and the x-ray and CT-scan done 12/08 after the discogram. I don't know how well those tests can be correlated.

So, can I get some names of surgeons that you guys think are excellent spine surgeons? Preferably on the East Coast.

I have heard the following names Dr. Yue, Dr. Delamarter, Dr. Zeeger, and Dr. Bertagnoli. I know Dr. B is in Germany, where are these others located?

If anyone has taken the time to look at the profiles of the first surgeon I saw (Dr. David B. Musante - link is in one of my first posts in this thread), I would love your opinion. I know it would only be based on his resume. I felt very good about him when he talked to me, but I'm not sure that he is one of the best. And after reading some things here, I am worried about his plan to use BMP in the cage, at the fusion of L5-S1, when I would have an ADR right above it. I haven't talked to him about this, because when I first asked, I was under the impression that using BMP was a good idea. And of course there are more questions I have for him, before I would decide on having him do the surgery.