[laid up doc]

i also have a family history of longevity, even my great-grandmother lived to be 97? - when life expectancy was far shorter than it is today.

thanks annapurna for piping in on cervical issues - i had some muscle issues (had a very unremarkable MRI - 2 "very mild" disc bulges that didn't correspond to the pain i was having) in my lower C/upper T spine that magically disappeared after my lumbar ADR - as I thought they would.

agree w/ annapurna about people w/ prodisc issues - i would think that if there was a more widespread problem that there would at least be a case series out there in the literature. hard to say by analyzing self-reports. but if your insurance won't pay for US ADR, i would start looking into overseas - the M6 for instance, which is what i just got in my lumbar spine. nary even a neutral word about it, but it's relatively new. it would be cheaper in the UK w/ Boeree or Spain w/ Clavel than in the US, if you decide you do not want fusion.

BUT -- as many of us often pipe in - you want surgery to be your last resort. disc issues aren't like a torn Achilles tendon - just b/c it's broken doesn't mean you want someone cutting you.