That is why I am here. Thanks again.

@jds54
I am in Rhode Island and agree that it is ideal to have a surgeon you like and trust and it is very important to educate and advocate for yourself.

I have the same orthopedic spine surgeon who did my ACDF in 2022 (c5-c6), who also did my lumbar spine decompression/fusion (l3-l5) in 2024 and who will do my ACDF on c6-c7 in May. He was my 4th opinion surgeon who was highly rated. He is friendly, smiles a lot, listens to and answers all of my questions, is respectful and very experienced.

I had good outcomes for both surgeries and trust him to do a good job on the next. It is sad to hear when people are “kicked to the curb” by their surgeons when there are issues post surgery. You would think they would want to help investigate further what may be causing their patients’ symptoms. Your surgeons should have really listened to your symptoms list and evolution over time. They should have investigated your cervical spine via MRI before thoracic because issues arise that need immediate attention more in the cervical spine than thoracic spine based upon research I had done.

I pray everything goes well for your ACDF surgery and you get some relief. The recovery is not as bad as lumbar spine surgery, but I had open lumbar decompression /fusion surgery which cut through muscle (don’t think it is as invasive as laminectomy).

If you find that you still have symptoms in your lower body after ACDF surgery, I would get updated X-rays and MRI of your lumbar spine to see if you have newly compressed spinal cord/nerve roots/nerves due to bone/ligament growth or herniated discs/slipping vertebrae. You may require some stabilization at some levels with decompression/fusion. I needed it due to sever stenosis at l4-l5 due to my l4 slipping over my l5 (spondylolisthesis).