[steve55]

Just saw Dr Ziglar with TX back institute for my discogram follow up. Need 2 levels ADR as I had suspected. He did confirm that Aetna wont cover the first disc if I am doing a 2 disc procedure. So, I can forget about insurance. I then told him that I have found that I can get this done in Germany for about $37K and that I assumed it was much more than that to get it done here. His response was "Steve, we can do it for less than that here, I think much less". So, he will have his staff get back with me on that quote.

I just dont get it. Everything I have read, even looking at Stenum's website, the 2 level ADR is in the mid 30's. Not sure whats going on here. Will let everyone know what the final quote turns out to be. Ive been rethinking everything. If the prices are pretty similar, Im not 100% sure whether Ill get it done here or over there. Dr Zig is probably in the top 5 ADR surgeons in the US, and is surely well qualified. And it would be nice to not have to travel and deal with getting around over there , and I can have a doctor locally to follow up with later on. On the other hand, Dr Bertnetoli has more experience with multi level ADR and whether that will matter or not I dont know. The cervical ADR is alot more straight forward than the Lumbar. Maybe when you reach a certain level of expertise, having more ADR's under your belt may not matter. Oh well, we'll see. Mark advised me of what he thought a 2 level ADR with Dr B would be, about $37K. But now, I think I really need to find out for sure. Maybe Ill try calling Dr B's office direct. ANyone know how I can get a quote from them? I have a feeling the quotes will be similar, so I guess I have some decision making to do.

Lastly, his only comment about fibrin was that it was "Unproven" and he didnt reccomend it. That was it.