New Here with Cervical issues

[heidi]

Hi to you all. I am a 52 year old mother of two grown sons in Australia. My problems are with discs C4/5, 5/6, 6/7. I had received one assessment so far from the good staff at Dr. Bertagnoli's team in Bogan Germany, with it being that I may need ADR (ProDisc) at two levels - from their initial investigation of my scans and reports uploaded to them. I have got to the point with my discussions with their very efficient staff of receiving a quote for the operation and potential surgery date in Jan next year.

However, when they sent the 'bill', to be paid to a bank account etc, I just wanted some more info just to be sure about others who had paid into the account that was not in the name of the surgeon. Not trying to be weird but its alot of money and the Cyprus bank account made me a tiny bit edgy.

Anyway, I came across this forum when I googled the 'question', and low and behold found mountains of amazing info from a stack of real people here who have been going through the exhaustive process of trying to work out 'what to do'. I feel very blessed and understand that all those here are speaking from their own experience (and that its not medical advice), but this is what I wanted to find. I was aware that when 'buying something', the last people to ask is the salesmen! I was looking for some happy drivers who had left the car sales yard and were still driving those cars as happy customers.

So here I am. And I instantly came across detailed discussions on both devices - the ProDisc and the M6. Already after just a few days I feel like I am being better informed. I do understand that I have the privilege of discussion some of the most experienced back surgeons in the world, and its just a matter of working out what may work best for the individual.

I also want to find out more info - like all the important details of what to do before and after the surgery, such as where do you stay, travel tips when you are incapacitated, and the post op section looks brilliant for this.

I'm looking forward to finding the courage here to move forwards confidently with surgery soon, and then sharing the process with others, as that generosity by others here is what has got me here!

See you on the other pages
Heid

[Harrison]

Hi Heidi, sorry you are here. I searched (see link above) and 36 topics that mention this, here's one:

http://www.adrsupport.org/forums/f43...sulting-10647/

Here you go:

http://www.adrsupport.org/forums/search.php

[LauraB]

Hi Heidi....
I will have to admit that the "Cypress (off shore) account" also made me somewhat nervous. I had heard that one of Dr. Bertagnoli's relatives runs the Cursasan office (????) I am not knowledgeable with international banking and business - thus Dr. Bertagnoli may have income/tax reasons for doing this. In comparison, Dr. Bierstedt's wiring went directly to a bank account for the hospital and the bank for his surgical office (ONZ). These banks were located in the cities where the surgery was performed. I found this more comforting.

In my experience with Dr. Bertagnoli (while on my pre-surgical fact finding mission), he only suggested using the Pro-Disc for my multi-level implantation as well. His website suggests that he is free to use whatever necessary device that works for the patient, but it seems that the Pro-Disc is that device for his patients. Since it is the competitor for the M6, and Pro-Disc has been involved in litigation with Spinal Kinetics (M6), it would more than likely be a conflict of interest for him to use that device. Dr. Bertagnoli was also part of the engineering team that developed the ProDisc.

If your research on the various devices makes you lean toward the ProDisc, then I believe Dr. Bertagnoli may be the BEST choice for implantation. His background knowledge and experience with that device may far outweigh its implantation with other surgeons.

Make sure you read up on the those two devices and look for both positive and negative surgical outcomes. You should be aware of all possibilities so that you are well-informed about your decision. I started with a simple "google." Look for some .org and .gov sites for case studies. I know you might be able to find some through the US google. I will search through some of my notes to find the "url" I found.

[RichardJ]

I cannot wait to hear about your success!