Anyone who has had Cervical spinal compression surgery

I want to be very careful
1. My ACDF was to treat a cervical spinal “deformity” called SWAN NECK - my neck had pitched forward and I could not maintain posture. From what I am reading you have a different condition and I want to be careful with any advice I give.
2. I do continue to suggest you ask hard questions about realistic recovery time, limits on future activity, on going or permanent stiffness, ROM, therapy and objectives , and quality of life 12-18 months down the road.

@msmith49
I have what you have. It is called cervical spondylotic myelopathy which is spinal cord compression injury. I also have lumbar spinal stenosis/DDD and getting surgery soon on L4-L5 (spinal injections no longer work for me).

I am a 54 soon to be 55 year old female, single parent, and had ACDF surgery on C5-C6 where they removed my disc and bone spurs, created a fusion “cement” using some of my own bone from spurs (helps your body accept the material better) and have a titanium cage around it for support. The pain was manageable and I only took pain medication for about 4-5 days and was working on my laptop in bed 2 days after surgery (I worked remotely all through COVID). My surgery was in January 2022. I wore a soft collar for a few days but they don’t want you to wear them too long since it can drastically weaken your neck muscles which you don’t want to happen.

Your doctors are right that you can get permanently paralyzed if you fall and your vertebrae further injured your spinal cord. I went for 3 years with no doctors diagnosing why I had neck/head/shoulder pain and weakness/numbness in my arms/hands/fingers affecting ability to hold things and not drop them, write, etc. I was also losing control of my bladder and difficulty walking (felt like I had cement boots on). As soon as my new orthopedic spine specialist looked at my MRI and listened to all of my worsening symptoms, he diagnosed me with cervical spondylotic myelopathy and I asked him if he would do surgery the next week! We planned surgery in 2 weeks because spinal cord compression/flattening can cause permanent injury and he wanted to stop the progression. You may want to reconsider doing surgery sooner. I am better but have some permanent neurological injury due to delayed diagnosis and ACDF surgery treatment.

I may have my lumbar surgery next month and I have heard that surgery is much more painful that cervical spine. Not looking forward to it but I have back/buttock/hip/leg/foot pain, numbness and weakness significantly affecting my quality of life.

@msmith49 - You're most welcome and any time. One last thought? Maintain a positive outlook. That is an important part of surgical recovery!

Thank you for replying and sharing your experience. I will definitely ask those questions. I did ask about range of motion after I heal and she had told me I will have some limitations. They told me I would be healed 6 weeks after surgery but that seems like not a very realistic statement. I have never healed from a surgery when predicted due to many other health issues. I am not only diabetic but I have fibromyalgia and neuropathy. So it has always taken me longer than normal than what a normal healthy person heals. This also causes me to heal longer from pain. With all the information when they told me what I needed to have done I was so in shock I know there is many questions I did not ask. I do not see them again until the day of surgery and the doctors assistant is not very friendly or helpful when I have had to call about any concerns which only makes my fear worse than normal so it is very discouraging. Thank you again for your comment. I do need to find a way to communicate with them before surgery.

Thank you for replying and telling your story. I also have bone spurs clear down my entire spine along with fibromyalgia and neuropathy. I have the numbing down my arms and hands also down my back/buttock/hip/leg/ foot pain, numbness and weakness. My L4-L5 is completely flat and on top of each other with nothing left in-between. I wanted to try injections first on that area. They told me I need surgery on my neck first due to it being the most dangerous. The numbness in my arms and the pain in my neck has been going on for years. I have horrible migraines every single day!! I have just been in shock since I was told what was going on. They found it when they did my MRI of my thoracic spine. They saw the lower three discs on my cervical spine. With having two total knee replacements in the last 3 years with being down in those 3 years and the pain from it when they talked about going in through the front of my neck, removing discs, cages, rods, plates, and screws all I could imagine was going through all of it all over again. I have worked so hard losing 76 lbs in the last year thinking I would get my life back and they told me about all the things wrong I didn't want to have to deal with anything else is why I delayed the surgery. I didn't want it to take away more time from my life. So I have been scared and angry since I was told the news. I have been swimming everyday for a year now so one more thing has been so overwhelming I just didn't want to stop especially over the summer. They told me I had to wear the neck brace 24 hours a day for the full six weeks to make sure what they were doing did not damage what they planned to do. It would be great if I didn't have to do it for that long. I will say a prayer that your surgery on your lower back goes well and your recovery goes well. My mother had the same surgery they want to do for both of us and I will tell you that after the surgery she healed and the issues she was experiencing did go away and she did not have any problems after she healed from the surgery. Please let me know how you are doing after the surgery. Thank you again for taking the time to reply and telling me your experience!

Thank you I am really trying to do that!

@msmith49
Thank you for your prayers. I will do the same for you. I understand how you feel. I am not happy my neurologist and first pain/spine doctors did not say anything to me about my spinal cord flattening noted in my cervical MRI in 2019. I now have permanent spinal cord injury/neurological deficiencies due to the delayed diagnosis/surgery.

Good for you swimming and taking care of yourself. The 8 years of my health decline and depression has caused me to gain 80 pounds. This is now causing me pain in my knees and I have difficulty moving much/standing/sitting/walking without pain/numbness/weakness. It is hard to go up/down stairs, walk my dog, do household chores, etc.

Wish you the best as you prepare for your surgery. I am hoping to do my lumbar surgery before my teen son returns to high school at the end of August.

I know how you feel. I gained almost 100 lbs during my knee surgeries. I had the same problem with walking, going up stairs, and sitting I still didn't get any relief. My knees were bone on bone and my right knee did not even have enough bone left he had to improvise and create something for the devise to attach to the top of my leg. I've had the lower back all while going through my knee issues. So I sympathize with you more than you know. You are in my prayers. Please let me know how you are doing I will continue to pray things go well and you can enjoy your life and your sons high school years. I have a son that is 28 so I know what it means to want to be apart of his life. Take care!

I am a 43 yr old female w/ complex, multilevel facet and disc issues in my cervical spine from C3-T1 (the C7-T1 literally just popped up in my CT I had done about a month ago, where MRI in May mentions no problems) - I do have (typing from CT and MRIs) cervical spondylothesis torticolis and reversed lordotic curvature w extensive facet arthropathy multilevel cervical degenerative disc and facet diseases and desiccation, degenerative subluxation, cervical spinal stenosis & radiculopathy, autoimmune conditions, Mixed Connective Tissue Disorder (although medical community states this is not as extreme as full blown Lupus/RA, I beg to differ & call it “Super Lupus”), Hashimotos, Vertigo, Small Fiber Neuropathy & additional neurological impacts that show no active lesions etc, but feel dizzy, vision problems, balance, etc. - I’ve had pain mgmt treatments of ablation at every level in my cervical spine as well as 1 steroid epidural but since no relief, the pain mgmt doc stated he wasn’t going to proceed w/ the second one and referred me back to a physical therapist (which I already undergo Vestibular Therapy weekly) - I saw a neurosurgeon who recommended the same exact procedure you mention - ACDF at all those levels - you make it sound like it’s actually not as bad of a surgery option as my brain is telling me it is - what is your ROM? Able to look up, down side to side (without feeling dizzy and pass out or fall over? - when i look up or down for more than 1 sec, i feel like I’m being strangled and asphyxiated - which the neuro surgeon said is because my cord is actually being pinched at multiple levels anyway and when I do that motion, it’s restricting it even more. My uncle has had horrible neck problems - different but still bad - and had decompression therapy and said it was life changing, but no one has seemed to offer that as an option to me - so looking for any and all possible non-surgical options 1st, would that be one for me in your opinion? Or if you were me, the full ROM restored and pain constantly was removed after your surgery, so you’d do it again in a heartbeat?! Thank you so much for your thoughts!!! Your initial response and explanation was spot on and what i needed in layman’s terms!

In April of this year, I went through a 4 level ACDF for C3-C7 (2 neck incisions) coupled with removal of many osteophytes (4.5” incision at back of neck) in a 7 hr surgery. Although I never had previous pain or decline in ROM, my surgeon indicated I was at an extremely high risk of paralysis should any type of trauma occur (car accident or fall). I was in a brace for 6 weeks 24/7, which was frankly, awful. Once the brace came off, I wished I could keep wearing it…due to extremely rigid muscles. PT started immediately and I began to loosen up and gain more ROM. The biggest issues are with my nerves and their fight to figure out how to respond to all this new space…by the way I am an inch taller now! Every day is a different story with different areas of pain, numbness and pins and needles. PT is no joke and must be taken seriously. I am off pain meds for 8 weeks now, but still taking a gentle muscle relaxer for restless legs at night. If I had the choice, I would have never gone through this fusion. I had no choice. Wheelchair bound was not an option! Patience has been very challenging, but I keep my head clear of the negativity. Also, my surgeon recommended an Orthofix Cervical STIM collar, worn 4 hrs/day for 6 mos. for spinal fusion therapy. This increases the fusion success rate for anyone at a higher risk of failure. Best wishes and get many opinions. I obtained six.