Ali,
I know the consensus is to not interfere with non-pain generators but dealing with you major pain, will that still leave you with pain and disability? To me, this is unacceptable if getting rid of all your pain is possible. I believe you need to seek out other opinions and with doctors who are comfortable dealing with multi levels. The best multi-level surgeon in the world is Dr. Bertagnoli in Germany. Mark works closely with him both is obtaining opinions via the internet and scheduling surgery (especially with international insurance - never heard of it).
If you doctor only wants to replace only 1 level, what would he the do if other discs became major pain generators? Back surgery is pretty major and you need to know what to expect or you can't make an informed decision. Are there any contra-indications to ADR?
Please don't accept this doctor's opinion until you have better educated yourself, asked all appropriate questions and obtained other opinions. This is your back and you have a right to the best care possible.
I sent you a pm... good luck, Dale
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3 level Prodisc adr S1-L3, Oct 12, 2005
Dr. B in Bogen, Germany
Severe nerve damage in left leg, still working on it
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