@dwlandi
I hope you like your neurosurgeon. If they are highly rated by others and you feel comfortable with them and they listen to your symptoms and answer your questions, that is a good match. If they do not, you may want to get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. My 3rd (may actually have been my 4th), was a really good match for me. He was very personable, listened, answered questions, was respectful, etc. Make sure you check out the hospitals your surgeon does surgery at and its ratings. You will want to also make sure the surgeon and hospital is in your network for insurance coverage.

I have had cervical and lumbar surgeries and the lumbar surgery was much more painful and a longer recovery than cervical spine surgery if they do not need to cut through muscle to get to the spine. ACDF surgery is from the front but it you have multiple levels to do, they may need to go through the back of the neck.
1.
https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/cervical-spondylotic-myelopathy-spinal-cord-compression/
2. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/cervical-myelopathy

3. https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/neck-pain/cervical-spondylosis-myelopathy

4. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/cervical-myelopathy

5. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2020/1215/p740.html

6. https://www.neurosurgery.columbia.edu/patient-care/conditions/cervical-spondylotic-myelopathy

7. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cervical-spondylosis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20370792

8. https://www.massgeneral.org/orthopaedics/spine/conditions-and-treatments/cervical-spondylotic-myelopathy

@dwlandi
One thing to keep in mind that many doctors don’t know a lot about myelopathy symptoms and how to diagnose. I had a good neurologist miss my spinal cord flattening in my MRI and did not connect the dots with all of my symptoms. Cervical myelopathy can cause many symptoms below the level of spinal cord flattening/compression. Many don’t realize cervical myelopathy can affect bowel/bladder and legs/walking.

Your bladder may be affected only at night, depending on how you sleep. During the day, your neck position may not compress your spinal cord and affect your bladder.

I have had EMGs done at different times and by different specialists and have had different results each time. Your neurosurgeon may have someone they really trust to do a good job on EMGs/nerve conduction studies. My surgeon recently referred me to someone he trusts before I get my next cervical spine surgery.

Also, keep in mind that EMGs don’t measure what is going on in your spine according to my surgeon. For example, I had a “normal” EMG for lower limbs but had severe spinal stenosis of lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease and neurogenic claudication (pain/numbness and weakness in lower back, hips, buttocks, legs and feet). I had surgery on my lumbar spine in 2024 and it relieved many of the symptoms. The doctor who did my EMG told me surgery wouldn’t help my back. My spine specialist/surgeon said that doctor did not know what he was talking about. EMGs measure peripheral neuropathy, not spinal cord. If you have pinched spinal nerves, that should get picked up by an EMG as radiculopathy with radiating pain to extremities.