[annapurna]

I'd second the idea of trying the pain management route for a short while. If it helps, you can buy time to research all of your options and find the best one. Don't pursue pain management blindly, though. Pick an amount of time or number of treatments that you and your doc agree you should be seeing improvement by. That way, if it works, you've bought time, and if it doesn't, the pain management stuff will not be a continuing distraction from finding a long-term solution.

You'll see a recent indictment of the Prodisc C at C56 on this discussion board. I'm not sure if it's a true problem with the device or with that level. Either way, it does mean that your eventual decision for C67 is going to have to made with with the concerns at C56 in mind. With the osteophytes at C56, it suggests that it's too far gone for the stem cell and stem cell-like treatments that are out now. C34 might benefit from them but probably not C56 unless someone suggests trying it to stop further degeneration (instead of trying to completely reverse it).

At 58, you're in a grey realm: too old to be sure that a damaged C56 would definitely need treatment in your life and too young to be sure it wouldn't. Laura's family history had almost everyone dying in mid-90's and beyond. It was a pretty sure thing that adjacent level concerns would manifest for her. I had a boss in his late 40's with a family history of no male making it into their 60's; the call for him would have been just as easy for him. If it helps, adjacent level concerns aren't certain in the c-spine. Fusion certainly places C56 at risk but not as much as it would for the lumbar.