[steve55]

Well, according to the chart, the shoulder area where I am hurting the most correlates to C4. The shoulder to elbow shows C6/7. But the C6/7 also goes down to the hand which I dont have.

Im at work right now and for whatever reason, this pain doesnt hit me too hard in the day. It seems to be worse when I lay down in the evenings. But its excrutiating and quite severe, but at least its not the deep dull nerve pain like pre op. I am amazed at how severe the pain is when it does hit, its a unbearable throbbing sort of pain mainly in the shoulder and some in the upper arm.

I recieved my quote from Prospine to fix this and its $18,000 USD. Im not sure if that is a discounted price or not. Considering a single level ADR at prospine is around $24-$27K, I think it probably is a discounted price since removal is probably more challenging and difficult than inserting, PLUS, they are fusing after the removal also. I was hoping it would be a free revision like I heard that Stenum does if things go wrong, and I read 1 case where prospine fixed someone for free also. I guess no such luck for me, but, as I said, I also know its not Dr Bertagnoli's fault either. My bones just didnt hold well. I was thinking about seeing if my insurance would cover it here in the US if I could find a Humana doctor with a solid reputation at removing ADR's, buuut, gosh, it probably isnt worth the risk I guess. There probably are not many doctors who are really good at ADR removals. I guess I can always appeal for coverage as out of network. Medical necessity shouldnt be too hard to prove. Do US insurance carrier's deny these claims on ADR extractions? Maybe they will refuse to cover the extraction but agree to cover the fusion???