Success story for L4-5 ProDisc in USA

[Michelle]

Today I drove through a snowstorm to Denver for my 12 week post-op follow-up. X-rays (flexion/extension/lateral bending) were all good. They even gave me a few of the films (they couldn't put them on disc) so I could show my hubby-he's never seen anything but pics of the implant. We talked about my small amount of continued pain and agreed it seems to be the facets. I remember a few years ago a trial facet block was done and I was supposed to be scheduled for a Rhizo, but ended up getting pregnant. It was such a small part of the problem then that I didn't pursue it after my son's birth. Now it seems to be the only problem!! I'm very hopeful that they can take away or greatly help this last bit of pain, but even if not I'm happy. We talked about the constrained vs unconstrained designs of discs, and I learned a lot. She (the PA) said that the ProDisc does not restore full natural range of motion, only close, which I didn't know. That's okay, I have more movement now than I did with 4 mm of disc, and a lot more than with my other option--fusion. She said that I didn't have to worry about the implant slipping apart or breaking even with a large impact like a ski crash. They can't even hardly get them apart outside of someones body with a pry bar apparently. Anyway, it's always nice to see that metal in the right spot on the films, and see how happy they are with my recovery. It's a slow proccess to me, but for them it seems great.