05-02-2021, 03:16 PM
(05-01-2021, 09:37 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Yeah, that would be nice. The procedures available today, were still on the horizon at the time of my injury diagnosis. I looked into having a discectomy, about 3 years ago. Turns out that my health care provider won't cover it. The only thing they will cover is the old fashioned spinal fusion, and that's if I'm completely unable to walk unassisted. Now, if I had the cash to pay out of pocket, I'd certainly consider doing so. However, my family Doc and I looked into the long term success rates of microdiscectomy, and they aren't as great as some might lead you to believe. If you go and look at the data presented by clinics that specialize in these procedures, they present amazing numbers and percentages of athletes put back into action. What they don't bother to show is how these people end up 10-15 years down the road, which is what my Doctor tuned me into.
10-15 years down the road does not account for right now which is the topic at hand. The bottom line is that this procedure with the technology being used in state of the art care has become routine for athletes. So while you continue to call Carmen a medical "red flag" I still believe you are overstating the situation. It was a good selection and not a reach.
