Just quoted cost of 2 level Cervical ADR

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

WOW Todd. I didn't know that you had cervical issues as well. Are you looking at going to the same place for cervical surgery? What discs are you looking at currently?

Terry Newton

[New-disc]

Terry,

Not real sure which disc is the problem @ this point. Right arm, and hand in pain. (swelling of right hand)

Stenum took x-rays of my neck back in 07 and said surgery was not a must at that time.

I need to update my MRI's, X-rays ..... o - so much fun!

Hoping to get surgery in the USA ... see what happens.

Todd

[Kathy]

Let me start out with this is obviously just my opinion....
If it were me, I would stick with Dr. Zigler and being local. He is very experienced in my opinion, I have only heard one bad thing about him (and it wasn't regarding anything relating to his surgical skill) and I think as far as surgeries done vs. amount of good outcomes percentage, I'm sure he is the same percentage of success as the others. Not to mention, just the few hours of flying to Florida and back just about killed me, I can't imagine having to do an overseas flight. I am definitely not looking forward to the flight home after surgery, first class or not. Too bad they don't offer many buisness class flights within the US; although my brother in law flew this on a 20 hour flight (he said your seat folds flat out, own personal tv and your own little area (or big in comparison to first class and especially coach seating). He said it was still miserable (and he doesn't have any pain issues). Also think it is crazy expensive to fly that way.
Anyway, you should know by now from Pm's that I'm pretty opinionated and passionate about backs! Best of Luck in making the right decision for you, Kathy
BTW- If you can give me a call, gotta tell you about more from Diane, when they thought I was having surgery there. Too much to type.

[steve55]

Oh Yes, Diane, our most favoritist person in the whole wide world,....NOT!!

LOL. Yea, I started to tell Dr Ziglar about her approach. I told him that she was making me feel like I was on the path of denial. He said she is just making sure Im a good candidate etc, and to better prepare a patient for surgery. I explained that preparing a patient for surgery I can understand, but that she made me feel I was heading for denial and this I did not like very much. He brushed it off but at least he knows that this patient was a bit puturbed by her approach and mannerisms.

Ill call ya sometime so you can tell me more about it.

And about my zig vs Dr B quandry, I got this little voice in my head saying that if anything doesnt turn out as good as expected, Ill be kickin myself in the butt for not going to Dr B, who has to have many more hundreds of multi level surgeries than zig. BUt when someone like Dr Zig gets to the high expert level that he is at, can one REALLY say that Dr B is better? I dont know the answer to that. I wish I did. Everyone says Br B is t he best in the world. BUt must I have t o have the best in the world for a straightforward 2 level cervicasl procedure? This is the quandry and I still havent decided, so far leaning towards Dr B just to be SAFE! Plus I can go see the Fatherland. LOL, well, I am of german ancestry, so would be kind of cool to see my german homies. (LOL)

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

For the flight I recommend taking a little Ativan, as it will make you sleep through the flight over to Germany. Make sure that your loved one administers the medication, as you can do strange things under the influence of them. I went over and back in a near amnesiac state of being and, do not remember any of it. This made the trip much more bearable though, and less anxiety producing. You also make sure you go over as a handicapper, where they put you in a wheelchair, get yo on the plane first, take you off first, go through security and customs first, etc. Makes it much easier.

Germany was beautiful as a country. The city was very clean and neat and the sites were incredible. I definitely want to go back and see more of the country.

As far as the decision, I always encourage my clients to write a list of pros and cons for each decision then weigh them out.

An example:

Pros
Closer to Home
Possibly covered by insurance

Cons
Not as Experienced
A long trip over there

You get the idea.

Whatever you decide to do, you will find support here, in a non-judgmental manner.

Hang in there.

Terry Newton

[Gil Denis]

Hi Todd

I an sorry to hear you have neck issues, What level or levels?

My neck has DDD at C3-C4 and holding on for now no arm pain just some discomfort.

Is your avatar going to be a Lobstaa.

Post soon

Gil

[Justin]

Hey Steve,

Good luck in deciding what direction to choose. I know it's tough and there are 101 questions that pop in one's mind before surgery. You're asking all the right questions and covering all your bases.

My experience with Dr. Bertagnoli and Dr. Fenk-Mayer was incredible. Having surgery was the best vacation (yes, I had an incredible time sight seeing before and after my operation) I've ever had and I've traveled to plenty of places.

I am indebted to Drs. Bertagnoli and Fenk-Mayer--they gave me my life back and I am forever grateful.

(Just an FYI: my new pain is in NO way related to the hands of Dr. Bertagnoli. I have something going on in my spine that I will share with the community at a later date when I have confirmation of the exact details.)