@soft1922 My advise is to see an orthopedic surgeon and get THEIR opinion! I had a neurosurgeon who became the head of neurosurgery at a fancy hospital and he was a bum. Thank goodness he said there was nothing he could do for me and switched me to the ortho dept. where the spine surgeon recommended surgery in less than 30 seconds looking at an xray. He is my prince. I've had 3 more with him. He is still my prince. Neck surgery is not easy if they have to put a rod in with larger screws and fuse you from C2 to T1 IF you are round shouldered like I am. If they could have stopped with the frontal surgery fusion c3 - c7 I would have been AMAZING!!! after having an auto accident at 7 which ruined me for 60 years. but the screws didn't hold (my bones were soft) so they had to do a more extensive surgery around the back with a rod. I am very active and it did slow me down but it also 1) gave me my life back (I couln't make the bed before surgery) and could no longer do artwork without massive pain. Now I can do both again! I absolutely recommend you get more opinions from DOCTORS. Some will need to determine if you will participate in your own rehab. It is an important part of recovery with cervical surgeries.