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Originally Posted by MedMech
I checked the surgery that you had out and once again they say that mine is too far gone for anything short of disc replacement. The tech is moving along pretty fast so I should be getting some relief in the next couple years, if i can make it that long. I'm going to Cleveland Clinic again next month.
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You're probably familiar with adrsupport.org but if not, there are lots of people with artificial discs on that list. Most of them are lumbar patients but there are a few cervical. I met one person who had been been in the orthopedic field for years, he owns a company called Ortho-Knowledge I think--at least that's the name of their publication. He had neck problems that were causing serious neurological deficits--he was falling down because his legs weren't functioning. He went to Switzerland and got an artificial disc. I talked to him on the phone for a long time. He had seriously considered designing his own disc but decided to go with the ????(Bryan?). He was very happy with the results 2 or 3 years later although he had never fully recovered complete function--he still can't run. But regaining function is never certain irregardless of the kind of surgery. There are about 3 or 4 different cervical discs available at the moment. The French just came out with an updated version that seems to provide more range of movement.
You probably also know that cervical discs are still in the clinical trials phase in the US, even though they've been implanted for years in Europe. I found a local Denver surgeon who was part of the trials but he had used up his quota of discs.