hi justin,
i hope your recent surgeries were successful... are you having fun yet?
i'm so sorry... i know you were hoping to sneak through w/just the decompression.
now that you've hopefully gone through some scream therapy, what do you think? your L4-5 Prodisc appears to go off its axis a little in flexion, right? Does Dr. B think this will become more unstable after the decompression? Or is it sliding off it's axis b/c of the bone abnormality and it could go back to "normal" w/just the decompression? i know that if/when i undergo a decompression i've been advised by a few docs that i have to stabilize the segment, but your case is also very different from mine.
there's not a lot of info on DSS, but i think this article explains it fairly well, as well as its theoretical improvements over the Dynesys --
Neurosurgical Instruments - DSS
my understanding is that the DSS is less invasive than the Dynesys like Mark explained, still any op involving pedicle screws is not trivial. You will lose some mobility in all directions, but not as much as a fusion.
There are surgeons in the US that are using the fusion version of the DSS, they just can't use the dynamic coupler. Still, if a surgeon that was trained to use DSS is located close to you it might be worth picking their brain, even if you have the surgery w/Dr. B.
as you probably know the Dynesys is the only FDA approved PDS; the others have been upheld for a variety of reasons.
let me know if i can help.
best,
Liz
ps... anyone else notice something unique about Justin's Prodiscs? or am i seeing things?