Has anyone had surgery in Germany????

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alimassa
alimassa Posts: 275
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello All!

Weird question here...my husband is going to Germany to have multilevel disk replacement in Germany in a few weeks. The option is not available in the States yet....the FDA has only approved single level replacement and they have just started the 7 year waiting period for the multilevel. I am hopefully for the results, but nervous just the same...

Has anyone been there done that??

Ali

Replies

  • alimassa
    alimassa Posts: 275
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    Hello All!

    Weird question here...my husband is going to Germany to have multilevel disk replacement in Germany in a few weeks. The option is not available in the States yet....the FDA has only approved single level replacement and they have just started the 7 year waiting period for the multilevel. I am hopefully for the results, but nervous just the same...

    Has anyone been there done that??

    Ali
  • mhenry557
    mhenry557 Posts: 8
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    Germany is a progressive country with some of the smartest minds, including medical, the world has to offer. Now, if you said France.....
  • alimassa
    alimassa Posts: 275
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    41 views...no replies....I am taking that as a no LOL:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    Ali
  • alimassa
    alimassa Posts: 275
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    Germany is a progressive country with some of the smartest minds, including medical, the world has to offer. Now, if you said France.....


    WOOOHOOO feedback! They have pioneered the disk replacements over there..have been doing them for 15 years. Some people think we are nuts though...

    ALI
  • mililani
    mililani Posts: 17
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    Ali,

    I haven't heard of this surgery, but I lived for over 15 years in Germany. I would say that the medical system is top notch, one of the finest in the world and quite comparable to what we have here in the States.

    Language is usually not an issue, since a lot of Germans speak quite passable English. I'd feel comfortable going there any time.

    Good luck to your husband!

    Marco
  • alimassa
    alimassa Posts: 275
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    Marco...

    Thanks so much for the feedback. We have been doing a ton of research on the surgery and the hospital and have been very impressed. Where did you live in Germany??
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    Hi There,

    I looked into having this surgery done over there myself. Is he getting the Charite Disc Replacement? I ended up getting a microdiscectomy here in the states, but am keeping on top of the new developments as my surgeon thinks at some point in time I'll need to do the disc replacement.

    I had read that they won't do it in people under the age of 60 or so (here in the states), because they don't know enough about what will happen to the discs in 30+ years.

    I'd really, really love to hear how it goes with your husband. If it turned out that that surgery would have worked for me, I would have gotten it done in a heartbeat.
  • alimassa
    alimassa Posts: 275
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    He is having the Mavrick system put in. L3-4 and L4-5....he is already fused at L5-S1....not the best place to be at 34 yrs old huh? I will post when we get back and let you know how it goes....

    Are you still having back pain?

    Ali
  • mililani
    mililani Posts: 17
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    Ali,

    I lived all over the place: Stuttgart, Aachen, Cologne, Berlin, and Hamburg. I don't think I ever noticed any difference in the health care, it's pretty much the same all over the country. (It's a fairly small country, too - you'd think it's much bigger, but you can drive from one end to the other easily in one day).

    Marco
  • Gabbi
    Gabbi Posts: 206 Member
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    Hi. I am from Canada. My friends husband just had back surgery in Germany. He has suffered with his back problem for years. His surgery was one month ago. He said he was up and walking 2 days later, miracle. He was back in Canada in 2 weeks from the date of surgery. He said he never felt better. Wonderful results. Do not be afraid. Good luck. The doctors there said that alot of canadians come. She ( my friends wife) told me that the doctors were very good to them. Hope this helps. I'll be waiting to hear how it went.
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    Hi Ali,

    I feel great! Just got back from Antarctica three months ago, so I'm pretty much back on track with the physical stuff. There are now things that I just won't do (heavy lifting, horseback riding) but really, I feel strong and happy.

    The surgery was extremely difficult for me -- I had a huge rupture, there were complications and a nerve was severed -- so it was much, much harder than I was prepared for. But slowly I've inched my way back and now I can say (almost 3 years later) that I feel good.

    I'm wishing your husband the best of luck, and please do let me know how it goes. I wasn't able to find anyone who got that surgery done, so I'm very very curious.

    And...if you have any questions (even tho mine was a microdiscectomy), I'm happy to answer!
  • alimassa
    alimassa Posts: 275
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    Hi. I am from Canada. My friends husband just had back surgery in Germany. He has suffered with his back problem for years. His surgery was one month ago. He said he was up and walking 2 days later, miracle. He was back in Canada in 2 weeks from the date of surgery. He said he never felt better. Wonderful results. Do not be afraid. Good luck. The doctors there said that alot of canadians come. She ( my friends wife) told me that the doctors were very good to them. Hope this helps. I'll be waiting to hear how it went.

    Thank you so much for your kind words!! We are leaving two weeks from tomorrow....I wil post when we get back...Thank again to everyone that responded....

    Ali

    :happy:
  • gabi_ele
    gabi_ele Posts: 460 Member
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    Hi Ali
    I was born and raised in Germany and had both my children there ( one was a cesarian with complications) and I also had a nerve in my elbow moved. I don't think there is a big difference in Doctors and the hospital system (even so with the socialised medicine I didn't have to pay for the surgeries), and I agree with all the former posts.
    I lived 45 min. east of Frankfurt, close to the Main River.

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