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Anyone who has had Cervical spinal compression surgery
Spine Health | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (58)Comment receiving replies
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!
Replies to "Thank you for replying and telling your story. I also have bone spurs clear down my..."
@msmith49 You can be proud of your accomplishments with weight loss. That is a tough thing to do. To me, that shows a real commitment to improving your health. News certainly can come as a shock when you think you've been doing OK, and suddenly you're not. It's a warning, and you have a chance to change your destiny and better your life. Fear can be quite challenging, but you can take it apart piece by piece and figure out just why it has such a huge grip on your life. When I think about the things I didn't do or accomplish in my life, often I can trace that back to fear of the unknown or a situation I didn't know how to handle.
You can take control of your fear. You do that by educating yourself about what the problems are and how to best improve on them with your doctors. I knew if I didn't have spine surgery, my spinal cord would eventually be damaged and I didn't want that. I had the risk of paralysis. I was a caregiver to my own disabled parents in wheelchairs and I did not want that future for myself if I had the ability to choose my future, and I was lucky that I had the choice. Some people don't get to choose and become disabled. Disability causes financial issues too when a person can no longer care for themselves or be able to take care of their needs for life. I didn't want permanent spinal cord damage. What helped me was to focus on my future and everything I had yet to do. I am an artist, and loosing coordination in my arms was hard to accept because that is what I love to do and express myself by making paintings. Spine surgery gave that back to me.
I learned a lot about myself in this journey. I know you are worried because of past surgeries that caused pain. I understand that, but also understand that this is different and not the same, so don't expect it to be the same. Clear your mind. Start fresh. If you can defeat your fear, you will find strength in other aspects of your life. Fear will no longer control you or steal away your time and joy. Be your own best friend. You owe it to yourself to try, and to be present for this important decision. You're not alone. I really did deprogram my fear permanently. I have been tested with other injuries and unexpected surgery I had to face, and I sailed through it. That was something I didn't think I could do, but somewhere inside, I found the strength to believe that I could do this.
When you stress over your fear, it just makes pain worse and increases blood pressure. Our brains are wired to react to fear and stress as a survival instinct, so knowing that helps you understand why it happens. Take a break from that. You can learn to control your blood pressure with deep breathing. Listen to relaxing music. I did that, and it was the beginning of me learning how to face pain without freaking out. You can do this, and it will help you cope. I was also visualizing beautiful images with the music and deep breathing, and I could call that up in my head any time I needed it to relax myself. That is control when you learn how to do that, and it helps defeat fear.... Also gratitude and being thankful that you are given the opportunity for the medical care you need. It's hard for your mind to be fearful and grateful at the same time, so you replace fear with gratitude. I suggest keep a journal about this and write down your strategy and what you try. That will help solidify it and reassure you.
Does this give you some ideas on what you could do to cope with or lessen your fear of surgery?
Here's a discussion you may like.
Just Want to Talk - "How can I defeat my anxiety about medical tests and surgery?"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/how-can-i-defeat-my-anxiety-about-medical-tests-and-surgery/
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@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.