Anybody had any neck surgery?

[klipsch]

I just found out this afternoon that I'm having surgery to remove two discs in my neck, the 14th of May. Curious if anybodies had this type of surgery and what the outcome was?

Thanks,
Walt

 

[mmburtch]

My wife had a 6-7 fusion. She was amazed at the reduction in pain she had immediately. Years of "stiff sore neck" gone.

 

[klipsch]

My wife had a 6-7 fusion. She was amazed at the reduction in pain she had immediately. Years of "stiff sore neck" gone.

Thanks! That's good to know. My problem is my left arm and fingers go numb on me. No loss of strength...just severe pain in my shoulder and I don't feel anything in my fingertips. It's more or less OK at the moment, which is why I'm not real excited about the surgery. I'm sure it'll be OK...things always are.
???

 

[in2xshp]

Walt I fear this everyday I have to have Kim rub Bio-Freeze into my neck and upper back because of the pain and stiffness I have there on a daily basis. Most of the time a trip to my Chiropractor does the trick for a few days but then the pain and stiffness comes back. I have had a few of my friends go through back and neck surgery and they are not the same, but those were pretty severe. Let me know how it goes and you will be in my thoughts through this.


I'm just a wimp, I have been putting off knee surgery now for 10 years, so what can you really take from my wisdom?

 

[klipsch]

EH...herniated disc at C5-6 and C6-7. Been going to the chiro for quite some time now (until recently). I suspect that the cigars that'll be showing up in my mailbox soon, should help with any feelings of anxiety. :laugh:

 

[in2xshp]

EH...herniated disc at C5-6 and C6-7. Been going to the chiro for quite some time now (until recently). I suspect that the cigars that'll be showing up in my mailbox soon, should help with any feelings of anxiety. :laugh:

I think I might have a few that could help out with that. Also that's not the news I want to hear, like I said I am like a little baby when it comes to stuff like that however it doesn't sound that severe and I'm sure everything will be fine.

 

[mmburtch]

I forgot to mention. You have to do the Physical Torture.

You being cut on by an orthopedist or a neurologist?

I would also recommend donor bone. A good friend worked for an orthopedist, and now works for a neurologist as a PA. He says people have more pain from the bone harvest in their hip than from the fusion surgery. He still claims my wife's blown disc was the worst he ever saw.

 

[Marcos]

What type of treatment options have failed you that you are taking the surgery jump?

 

[klipsch]

I'll try to catch the above all in one reply.

in2xshp...I'm a wimp for the most part too. I had my first hip replacement 10 1/2 years ago. 5 1/2 years ago it started popping out of the socket. The first time was while I was doing barbell squats in my home alone (I'm a CPT so I have the necessary equipment to train safely). It happens now if I move wrong putting the vegetables in the crisper bins. :laugh: But that surgery was the most painful thing I've experienced. I'm not in a hurry to get it done again.

mmburtch...I'm having the surgery done by a Neurosurgeon. Apparently they'll use synthetic bone if I understood correctly. As far as the PT...see pain above. :laugh:

Marcos...I've seen chiropractors for years for different pains in my back and neck. I've also tried passive traction using my inversion table to relieve some pressure on my spine. The problem I now understand is degenerative disc disease. I've seen the MRI's myself...and whether they remove the discs or try to shave the bone spurs (which wasn't even discussed), they'd have to do surgery. From what I do understand...we want to get this done before I experience weakness in my left arm which would signify irreversible nerve damage.

My biggest concern right now, is that I'm able to get my wine-o-dor setup and running before the surgery. :laugh:

 

[BlindedByScience]

Not sure of the numbers, but I had two disks in my neck removed and the vertebrae fused.

Woke up one AM and WOW did I have a sore neck / arm. Took two aspirin and went to work. It got worse and worse and WORSE so a few days later I went to the Dr's who shot an x-ray of my neck. He looked at it for about three seconds and told me "...you're getting an MRI, today..." which freaked me out a little. Saw the neurosurgeon the day following and he gave me the good news. They went in to fuse one, ended up fusing two. I used donor bone, as the Dr. told me the if I self donated, the donor site could easily take months to heal and would be far more painful than the actual surgery.

By the time I got into surgery, I was downing Vicodin like M&M's and they weren't touching the pain. My arm had started to twitch a little and I was genuinely freaked out. For me, it was like turning off a switch. Like magic. I was told not to freak out when the symptoms came back mildly with the post op swelling, but only for a couple of days. They were right. I got cut on Wednesday, went home Thursday PM, and back to work on Monday (I basically sit on my ass for a living so my work is very low stress, physically).

That was about seven years ago and I've had no issues, problems, or recurrence since.

For me, it was like a miracle; an off switch for some of the most intense pain I've ever had. Best of luck for similar results, my friend - B.B.S.