My husband is 67. He's had back pain since being a teen but never saw a doctor until it became severe. At this point he can not turn his neck and two of his fingers and foot feel "numb" constantly. Daniel is scheduled to see an orthopedic doctor (again) in 2 weeks and since steroids and physical therapy did not alleviate the pain he's already been told surgery is the only other option. His MRI and Cat scan showed bone spurs, herniated discs,etc. Daniel's at the collapsing stage of this disease. He likely will need a cervical fusion with plates, rods and screws. From what I understand the recovery is excruciating and he will probably not be able to golf again because of the bending and twisting. Most here who have had cervical fusion surgery say they are still in extreme debilitating pain and can not walk without a cane or walker. What should we expect if surgery is the only option? I am very worried and pray but still feel helpless.

I was 68 at the time. It was actually a pretty severe situation (found by another ortho). My arms were going numb and I had slight balance issues. Post op analysis was that if I had waited much longer and had simply fallen over and landed wrong I would have been paralyzed from the neck down. It was a great turnaround for me. I think the key for me was that I am pretty active and work out every day. That, and I had a really great team both pre-op and post-op.