But if they remove too much, you're gonna have bone on bone between the vertebrae -- and that's gonna be painful, isn't it?? :eek:

It is until it completely fuses. I could upload my surgical report if you would like to read it. But basically they scrape down the bottom of the top vertebrae, the top of the bottom one and they scored them so that they aren't smooth. Even though bone is porous it helps to graft.

I don't know that the bone fuses just around the outside, I am pretty sure it fuses all the way through. That is what my xrays show too....Maybe, and it is entirely plausible, I misunderstood.

But INSIDE the bone is the BONE MARROW. How can THAT fuse? I guess I just don't understand. :confused:

This link is pretty much the way I was explained as to how they do it.http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-ACDF.htm