Hi Lynda,
Yes, could you please find that information for me? I just found a Dr. Rampersaud in Toronto, and spoke to his assistant this morning. He does ADR, but that's all I could find out from her, not if he does multi-level. etc. She did say that he uses the Maverick, which is great, but that the province does not pay for the discs themselves, just for the 'labour'. Each disc costs about $4000, she said, and many patients couldn't afford them.
I asked my GP to fax a referral to him asap.
The Ontario Ministry of Health originally told me that no one in Ontario does ADR, but I found out from the Access to Information, the Privacy commission, that over 130 ADR surgeries have been done here, many of them multi-level. So that office is of no help to me. Most of the specialists' offices hang up on me if I ask about ADR, saying it is not appropriate and I am wasting their time. Today's was an exception, and I am hoping to see him within three months.
None of the specialists I have spoken to here know of any ADR specialists in Ottawa. London, Ontario has two, but the one I spoke to said that he only does lumbar, and very few of them, and if I had any arthritis in my facets, that I would not be a candidate. Doesn't almost everyone who has DDD and is needing new discs have arthritis?????
The other fellow only does cervical discs, and again, has over a year's wait list.
Yes, I have balance problems ;-) I have fallen down at least a dozen times this year, just walking on an uneven lawn. I fell and broke my ankle just walking across the garage a year ago...klutzy is my middle name!
I have had very bad cases of vertigo this past summer, lasting for a week or so. I underwent numerous tests with an ENT specialist, but with no results. It comes and goes, and makes me very nauseous.
Did your doctor associate yours with your cervical discs? Thanks for the suggestions. I will start another thread, although my very first one the other day was asking for information from Canadians, and I have not received any responses to that one.
|