@robson78 This is the way they did fusions before the plates were invented with no hardware. Not all surgeons will do this, and they have to be able to trust you to follow directions and stay in the neck brace 24/7. It wasn't that hard and it went by faster than I thought. I mostly slept a lot. The plates give the surgeon some peace of mind that his work will be stable while it heals, but the plate isn't needed anymore after the bones are fused. After that when you wean out of it, your neck is weak and you need some physical therapy. I had concerns about allergic reactions to metals in hardware because I had so many issues with pierced earrings that I had to give that up years ago. This was a great choice, and I don't have hardware problems like others describe or pain when weather changes, etc. Given that you've already had bone growth around an artificial disc, I'm guessing you would heal well with a fusion.