Ms. Brand with her two Doctors, Dr. Schubert (left ) and Christian Wagner

German patient, Ms. Claudia Brand (41) had to live through a 3 year ordeal, when she visited one Doctor after another due to unbearable neck- and back pain. Her recount of this 3 years - full of fears, frightening diagnoses and suicidal thoughts -remains emotional to date. A Munich based orthopaedic surgeon for instance forcasted that she would turn into a nursing case if she ever underwent a surgery of the neck and offered cortisone injections instead. The neurosurgeon, whom she contacted next, recommended a cocktail of morphine and antipsychotic drugs - without ever diagnosing or examining the patient. A university hospital released her after a myelography examination (cerebrospinal fluid exam)  with more pain than ever and the suggestion to visit a psychiatrist. By now, her morphine dose no longer helped.. and a normal life became impossible. As a former nurse, Ms. Brand was not willing to accept the obvious spiral of pain and addiction, she knew that she was not "crazy". By the time she finally visited the Alpha Klinik she was living in a hotel, unable to handle her household chores due to pain and neurological deficits. Here she finally got a diagnosis and regained hope: the doctors Christian Wagner and Michael Schubert diagnosed two symptomatic, herniated discs in the neck by means of MRI, a thorough neurological examination and an affirmative discography. When Dr. Schubert removed the degenerative discs and implanted two artificial discs into the patients neck she reported of immediate pain relief. Today Ms. Brand is confident that she will be able to return to her former active life and emphasizes the importance of making stories like hers public, for the sake of other patients. We wish Ms. Brand a great recovery!