[Lillyth]

Originally Posted by mmareef

Hello All,

This may be one of the few places where I can tell people that I'm going to Spain for back surgery without having to explain much about the reason why.

Thanks to the creators and contributors of this site for all the information that helped with the decision. I'm scheduled for an L5-S1 ADR with Dr. Clavel on March 6.

I injured my back practicing martial arts (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) two years ago. Since then, I've been through most conservative treatments without much success. During the last 4 months the pain has become a constant problem so I finally decided to consider surgery.

Prior to consulting Dr. Clavel, I consulted with two orthopedic surgeons in the Washington D.C. area and had a discogram. One of the local surgeons recommended fusion and the other ADR using the ProDisc. I was leaning towards the ProDisc surgery until the cost was estimated around $135K (it's out of network). That made me look for options which led me to this site.

Now I'm looking forward to a successful surgery in Barcelona and a solid recovery. My goal is to eventually go back to practice martial arts and live without the drag of back pain.

I used to compete in regular Jiu-Jitsu! Dr. Clavel told me that a year after the surgery I could compete with impunity, grappling and all, even neck-holds (I'm having three cervical and three lumbar), so you should be up and on the mat in no time!

Maybe we can even upload videos of ourselves back on the mat, just to show people they can. When is your surgery scheduled?