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International Assistance Any topics relating to traveling or communicating with international treatment locations are here. |
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#201
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I'm part of the 13% and SO GLAD I ignored all the surgeons and people who told me not to bother with the metal allergy blood test! I am highly reactive to nickel (which I already knew), reactive to molbdenum and mildly reactive to Chromium and Zirconium. Perhaps the surgeons in the U.S. just don't mind putting their patients through a corrective surgery. It's crazy to me that they don't test for it. Dr. Clavel was the only surgeon I spoke to that said he thought I should get tested.
Today, I met again with a really great orthopedic knee surgeon who takes metal allergies seriously. The great news is that he agreed that I am not allergic to titanium!!! I sent all the findings off to Dr. Clavel today and am now waiting to hear back from Yolanda. "Immune response to implants is commonly reported in the literature and can include hypersensitivity related to pacemakers, dental implants, and orthopedic hardware.[1] Furthermore, as many as 13% of people are sensitive to nickel, cobalt, or chromium.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] The development of metal sensitivity after implantation of orthopedic hardware is common.[1, 10, 11, 12]" http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1230696-overview This information is from the manufacturers' websites. "If you have any of the following, you should NOT have surgery with Mobi-C: A known allergy to what Mobi-C is made of: cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, titanium, hydroxyapatite, polyethylene, and other trace elements. "The ProDisc-C Total Disc Replacement should not be implanted in patients with the following conditions: -Allergy or sensitivity to the implant materials (cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, polyethylene, titanium)"
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2006: epidural shots did nothing; 2 surgeons recommended 2 level fusion, I declined. 2007 - 2010 4 foraminotomy and cord decompression cervical surgeries and 2 endoscopic discectomy T7-T8 surgeries; total 6 with Dr. Jho (Pittsburgh,PA) My C6/C7 autofused around 2009. 2013 - 2015: epidurals 3 times (again did nothing) and 4 Radiofrequency ablation (or RFA) procedures. 2016 more RFAs, hit the 10 year mark of this insanity and pain, 3 level M6-C ADR with Dr. Clavel May 19, 2016 |
#202
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I'm sorry if I missed this, but why a knee surgeon? Is it because he is concerned with the allergies? I see an ortho who doesn't do any kind of implant or fusion in the spine, but he is the only one who told me not to get any more fusions and was an advocate for going overseas.
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1979 car accident: rear ended 1980 ACDF C4-5 4/8/11 stopped, hit again 3 epidurals, PT, 2 MRI's,etc. scheduled 3 times for C5-6, 6-7 fusion, plus laminectomy at C3-4, and C 7, advised to do Bilateral lamino-foraminotomy C5-6, C6-7,a Percutaneous Discectomy L4 -L5 7/14 RFA on L3 to L5 (awake, local only) C5-6,6-7 M-6 ADR with Dr. Clavel 9/17/14, 12/7/15 RFA L2-S1, Facet injections C2-7 6/3/16 RFA L2-S1, epidural L4,5, 8/26/16 RFA C1-7 |
#203
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Quote:
My summary: _________________________ 2015- diagnosed with DDD 2016 Jan - car accident - whiplash injury Tried chiroprator, energy healing work with reiki, Active Isolative stretching currently Trying acupuncture Muscolarsceletal massage, PT
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C4-C5 Bulging disk C5-C7 disk herniation (C5-C6 posterior HNP 8-9 mm & C6-C7 HNP 2-3 mm) Loss of lordosis C2-C5 Spondylotic spurs C5 through C7 C5-C6 Spinal cord compression (0.8 cm) left Foot / left hand numbness/ right harm muscle weakness Neck pain, lower back ache |
#204
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Hi Indre, Welcome! You can start your own thread. Just go into the new members section and cut and paste your post there. The thread button is in brown and in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.
Insurance is all different. It's always a battle it seems. I've heard of a few people that have gotten their insurance to pay for surgery in Europe.
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2006: epidural shots did nothing; 2 surgeons recommended 2 level fusion, I declined. 2007 - 2010 4 foraminotomy and cord decompression cervical surgeries and 2 endoscopic discectomy T7-T8 surgeries; total 6 with Dr. Jho (Pittsburgh,PA) My C6/C7 autofused around 2009. 2013 - 2015: epidurals 3 times (again did nothing) and 4 Radiofrequency ablation (or RFA) procedures. 2016 more RFAs, hit the 10 year mark of this insanity and pain, 3 level M6-C ADR with Dr. Clavel May 19, 2016 |
#205
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Surgery in Europe is scheduled
Well, this thread is about to come to an end. I have surgery scheduled with Dr. Clavel for May 19th. I got my airline ticket and my hotel reservation for the third week I plan to be there. Yolanda will take care of the first two weeks. I have been working like crazy since I got her email at 5 a.m. yesterday morning to pull my trip together and still have so much to do. When I was a normal person, this type of thing was not a big deal for me but, now that I am in so much pain all the time, it's really hard to do just about anything. This entire year has really been difficult. I've had to lay in bed a lot and not move to keep the pain tolerable. (As my Mom said before she died "I feel like a slug." I am missing her so much right now and wish she was here to share the experience. Happy Mother's Day Mom!) I'll just keep plugging away at my list. I used to travel internationally so, at least I have experience with it. It's taken me a year to pull this surgery together with lots and lots of research plus, some bumps along the way. I was so relieved to get the green light from Dr. Clavel. Honestly, I can't wait to meet him! I sure hope I'm one of the lucky ones that doesn't have problems after surgery. Wish me luck .
@Scoop, I posted about the knee. Just go back a page or two if you want to read the long story. The short story is I have titanium screws in my knee from a surgery many years ago so, the first blood test that said I was allergic to titanium was crappy information. The second blood test from Orthopedic Analysis made much more sense because it matched the history of my reactions to metals. The Mobi-C ended up not being an option for me. That little diversion ended up costing me an extra couple thousand when you add up all the tests and doctor appointments plus, 10 months to get through it all. I'm pretty miffed at our healthcare system. At least that part is behind me.
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2006: epidural shots did nothing; 2 surgeons recommended 2 level fusion, I declined. 2007 - 2010 4 foraminotomy and cord decompression cervical surgeries and 2 endoscopic discectomy T7-T8 surgeries; total 6 with Dr. Jho (Pittsburgh,PA) My C6/C7 autofused around 2009. 2013 - 2015: epidurals 3 times (again did nothing) and 4 Radiofrequency ablation (or RFA) procedures. 2016 more RFAs, hit the 10 year mark of this insanity and pain, 3 level M6-C ADR with Dr. Clavel May 19, 2016 |
#206
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Good luck and I'm so happy for you. If you need anything PM me and I will help you any way I can. Where are you staying?
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1979 car accident: rear ended 1980 ACDF C4-5 4/8/11 stopped, hit again 3 epidurals, PT, 2 MRI's,etc. scheduled 3 times for C5-6, 6-7 fusion, plus laminectomy at C3-4, and C 7, advised to do Bilateral lamino-foraminotomy C5-6, C6-7,a Percutaneous Discectomy L4 -L5 7/14 RFA on L3 to L5 (awake, local only) C5-6,6-7 M-6 ADR with Dr. Clavel 9/17/14, 12/7/15 RFA L2-S1, Facet injections C2-7 6/3/16 RFA L2-S1, epidural L4,5, 8/26/16 RFA C1-7 |
#207
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@Scoop, thank you for your kind words. They mean a lot to me!
I don't know where I'm staying the first leg of the trip. Yolanda will set that up for me this week and also take care of my transportation. I asked to stay at the Gallery Hotel but, with the last minute plans, I don't know where I'll ultimately end up. The hotels there are pretty booked up right now. I'm going to stay at the Hilton near the beach for the last leg of my trip. I used to travel to Mexico a lot before I had all my physical problems. Now, it's been over ten years since I've seen the ocean or been on a vacation. I'm really looking forward to it even if it is after surgery. The only sad part is that I don't have anyone traveling with me. Hopefully, I'll meet some nice people while I'm there.
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2006: epidural shots did nothing; 2 surgeons recommended 2 level fusion, I declined. 2007 - 2010 4 foraminotomy and cord decompression cervical surgeries and 2 endoscopic discectomy T7-T8 surgeries; total 6 with Dr. Jho (Pittsburgh,PA) My C6/C7 autofused around 2009. 2013 - 2015: epidurals 3 times (again did nothing) and 4 Radiofrequency ablation (or RFA) procedures. 2016 more RFAs, hit the 10 year mark of this insanity and pain, 3 level M6-C ADR with Dr. Clavel May 19, 2016 |
#208
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Good luck with your surgery, Cynlite! Hope all goes well and as expected. Take it easy during recovery and enjoy your stay near the beach.
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2011 - onset of lower back pain during hot yoga 2011 - 2013 Treated with massages, chiro and physio - pain getting progressively worse 2013 - Xrays normal Dec 2013 - MRI showed moderate DDD @ L5/S1 - modic type 1 endplate changes - remaining disks well preserved Jun 2014 - became patient at Caleo clinic Jan 2015 - first consult with surgeon May 3, 2016 - L5/S1 - M6 - ADR in Canada (Calgary, Alberta) |
#209
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@Jonesie ~ Thank you so much for your well wishes! I really do appreciate it.
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2006: epidural shots did nothing; 2 surgeons recommended 2 level fusion, I declined. 2007 - 2010 4 foraminotomy and cord decompression cervical surgeries and 2 endoscopic discectomy T7-T8 surgeries; total 6 with Dr. Jho (Pittsburgh,PA) My C6/C7 autofused around 2009. 2013 - 2015: epidurals 3 times (again did nothing) and 4 Radiofrequency ablation (or RFA) procedures. 2016 more RFAs, hit the 10 year mark of this insanity and pain, 3 level M6-C ADR with Dr. Clavel May 19, 2016 |
#210
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Good luck Cynlite and take it easy on yourself.......the body will adapt after and come around.....just give it time...
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Dec 1/15 - 3 level ADR from S1/L3 c/w 360 mobility preservation at L3/L4 for Spondylolisthesis done by Dr. Bertagnoli in Bogen GmbH. |
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