Newbie: Advice needed!

[trkdoc714]

Ray,

You're in the right country to have a back problem at least! I know there are going to be a lot of recommendations on surgeons. I'd give a hard look at Dr Ritter-Lang from Stenum Hospital. He performed a 2 level ADR on me at the end of March this year. I'm back to work full time and doing almost everything I feel the desire to do. I experience only minor back spasms if I over do it.

I'm still amazed at the rock star status of another German surgeon. He's shown a pattern of abandoning patients and blaming other reasons than his poor surgical decisions for the failures. I'm totally surprised that some of his failed patients defend him with such vigor.

That was one of the reasons I chose Dr. Ritter-Lang. He comes across as a down to earth human being. He freely admits to his mistakes. He gets maligned because he won't blame himself for failed devices or patients that don't follow post-surgical instructions (the guy that went diving a week after a 2 level cervical ADR procedure comes to mind).

I refuse to promote Dr. Ritter-Lang as god-like. He's a human being like the rest of us. He took care of me with great care skill. I'm four months post-op and I'm almost 100% of what I was like prior to my injury. I'm extremely pleased with my choice.

I hope you continue to research and make your own decisions. It's your spine and no one else's. Don't let yourself be pressured into any procedure with any surgeon that you have been sold on.

Good luck to you. I hope your back problem can be resolved with as minimal a procedure as possible.

Bob