@rdflash0788 Rick, I'm so glad to hear your surgery went well with Dr. Fox. I know how frustrating it is to have surgeons not understand why leg pain symptoms may be caused by cervical spine pathology because I went through that too. That is a big reason why I share my experience here and for you to share yours as well because patients need to know of this possibility and to keep looking for an informed surgeon and advocating for themselves.

You'll have some months of recovery and rehab ahead of you, and already, you have had a big improvement. Congratulations! That was my experience too in that all the leg and body pain I had prior to my cervical spine surgery was gone when I woke up. After that, it was just healing pain of the surgical path, and later on releasing some tight scar tissue. Incisions usually take about 6 weeks to heal, and the next month the scar tissue may begin to tighten and cause some pain. Your physical therapist can help you with that.

For now, just relax and heal. I slept a lot, and the body needs that when healing from a significant surgery. This is a big change for you too with your entire neck fused except for C1 & C2. It would be good to discuss with your physical therapist when you get to the rehab stage, what are the best ways to avoid adding extra stress to those upper levels.

I didn't find a surgeon who understood this cervical spine related "funicular" pain in the body and legs until I came to Mayo. My having this pain that they didn't understand made them refuse to help even though all of them could read the MRI and see the cervical spinal cord compression.

I am glad you are on the healing side of this journey. Take care.

Jennifer