Spine Surgery Help!

Hi All! My name is Deb Wallace (to those who don't know me) and I am here to ask for help....yes, I know, it is something I rarely ever do since I am all about figuring out situations my own. And I have to an extent, but I still have a little ways left to go.

The bulk of the background is this.

In 2015, I started having neck and arm pain and tingling with certain activities. An MRI showed that I had a foraminal stenosis (narrowing of the opening of the vertebrae where the radial arm nerves exit the spinal column) as well as a few minor disc protrusions. Nothing too extreme but hoped PT and chiro would help.....which it didn't.

In the few years that followed, symptoms increased but very little was ever done and I was routinely dismissed by my doctors as not having real pain or that I was too young to have such issues.

In 2019, things stepped up more and extreme neck and back pain had me sleeping with a bed wedge - well, not really sleeping, more like nighttime cat naps. Another MRI showed the progression of the degeneration and after much research I sought out a "cutting edge specialist" whose bio claimed new and effective non-surgical techniques for my condition but alas, no help was offered....just more PT which didn't work.

Finally, at my first faire of spring this year, the pain had gotten so bad that even dressing in faire garb was too much for my back to handle (forget about trying to sleep on a nice expensive camping cot and memory foam pad) so back to the doctor I went.....this time in tears, begging to be taken seriously. Another MRI, which was excruciating since I had to lay on my back for so long, and a new specialist at SCOI was in the works.

This one took me seriously.....finally. But things had progressed so far that he recommended a 3-level ACDF (which is a spinal fusion and would potentially end my run as a faire vendor as it would drastically reduce the mobility of my neck, not to mention the long term problems and risks of such a surgery.)

Nevertheless, he said he wouldn't be able to perform the surgery should I chose to go that route due to the fact that I had a major disc protrusion at the T1/T2 level that was pressing on my spinal cord. I asked if I could get at least get sent for injections to deal with the pain to get me through til my winter faire hiatus when I could have ample time to heal, HOWEVER he would not clear me for it because of the spinal cord issue. So he wanted me to see a neuro or ortho surgeon specializing in micro neurosurgery.

So off to yet another doctor - this time one who was recommended time and time again as one of the best anywhere.

We are now in July, and I am trying to get through each day with the pain and I finally get in to see this new surgeon. This new surgeon goes over every aspect of my MRI and explains what he is seeing and immediately validates ALL my issues and then talks about alternatives to fusion. Tears of joy follow along with waves of gratitude for showing me a light at the end of the tunnel and helping me to preserve my mobility and my career.

So I was promptly scheduled for two back to back spine surgeries starting on November 20th. The first surgery will be the 3-level artificial disc replacement or arthroplasty followed by a spinal decompression and microdiscectomy for T1/T2 3 weeks later.

Thankfully I have health insurance. BUT the problem lies in that insurance only pays for 2 levels, not 3 despite the cost being lower and the outcomes better with ADR than with fusion. Not to mention, I would have a much lower risk of becoming disabled.

So now I am faced with the cost of the 3rd level which the office quoted as being over 16K PLUS the cost of the implant itself which runs somewhere in the neighborhood of 3K. So just shy of 20k is what they say I need to come up with the have this surgery done. The second surgery is covered so there's that, right?

With the WGA/SAG strike pretty much driving us into the ground and depleting any savings we had, I knew there was no way I can afford this. On the flip side, not doing surgery means the pain and symptoms will only get worse til they become irreversible and at this point, I am no longer taking things day by day but more like hour by hour.

I explain all this to the patient coordinator at the surgeon's office and he says he will do what he can to find solutions. The final outcome was one that I did not expect. The artificial disc implant was essentially donated and all fees for the third disc replacement, from Dr, anesthesia and surgery center fee, were reduced to what I am asking here.

Having this surgery means that soon, I will be able to sleep longer than 30 minutes without my arm and hand going numb or having searing pain and I won't wake my husband with screams or sobs in the middle of the night. It will mean that I will be able to keep my business, do faires and not have to keep sleeping in a zero-gravity recliner sitting up. It will mean that I will be able to continue making my salves and soaps without numbness or loss of manual dexterity or grip strength and before these symptoms become permanent.

If you've gotten this far, regardless of whether you can help or not, you have my gratitude and my love. Especially since writing this was not the hard part....the hard part was clicking the button to take this call for help live because I am so fiercely independent on many levels.

Thank you all for your love.