Hi! I had the ACDF C6-7 (level 1) surgery in October 2024. I thank God literally every day that I did it. I woke up from the surgery, able to move all fingers and toes, and virtually was pain free in the left arm and hand where I was affected the most. Now, the rest of my body hurt, LOL, but that was short-lived compared to the excruciating pain I had been living with prior to the surgery.
Because I had a hard time finding info about this surgery beforehand, I did do a video of my experience, what to expect, and how to prepare for before and after surgery - at least from my perspective. There were things I just didn't know or think about since it's not stuff the doctor talked about, so hopefully it will help someone else ahead of time.
I had to put it on my YouTube @KDsKorner33 because it's kind of long, but hopefully informative (I can't add a link here).
@camendola9
I had C4-C7 fused with plate and screws in 2014 with great success. Had previously done C4-5 fused with autologus bone from my hip then 2years later needed C5-6 fusion. So by 2014 the surgeon said I neeeded all from C4 to C7 fused again with titanium plate and screws. Today my neck is pain free.
@camendola9 Welcome to Connect. There is an increased risk of adjacent segments going bad because they will absorb more stress because they can move. That can be different for everyone. I have C5/C6 fused and have had no other issues at 9 years after surgery. I do physical therapy and myofascial release to loosen tight muscles. I also have TOS, thoracic outlet syndrome, that makes one side of my neck tighter. I do my best to loosen things so my neck won’t have extra pressure on one side. I also chose a fusion done only with bone and no hardware, so I have retained the natural flexibility that bone has. Adding metal makes the spine more rigid of course than the flexibility of bone. I believe that all of this makes a difference in avoiding future spine surgery. When I asked my surgeon about that, he said maintain core strength to support the spine. I own a horse and riding just at a walk does wonders exercising my core. I don’t do any pounding sports and my horse does not trot. I don’t want to put more wear an tear on my body.
Will you be discussing this with your surgeon? A physical therapist also is a great source of information on prevention and recovery.
@camendola9 Welcome to Connect. There is an increased risk of adjacent segments going bad because they will absorb more stress because they can move. That can be different for everyone. I have C5/C6 fused and have had no other issues at 9 years after surgery. I do physical therapy and myofascial release to loosen tight muscles. I also have TOS, thoracic outlet syndrome, that makes one side of my neck tighter. I do my best to loosen things so my neck won’t have extra pressure on one side. I also chose a fusion done only with bone and no hardware, so I have retained the natural flexibility that bone has. Adding metal makes the spine more rigid of course than the flexibility of bone. I believe that all of this makes a difference in avoiding future spine surgery. When I asked my surgeon about that, he said maintain core strength to support the spine. I own a horse and riding just at a walk does wonders exercising my core. I don’t do any pounding sports and my horse does not trot. I don’t want to put more wear an tear on my body.
Will you be discussing this with your surgeon? A physical therapist also is a great source of information on prevention and recovery.
@jenniferhunter
Tku Jennifer. Very helpful. I ski and swim so will ask my surgeon about hardware / no hardware options for stability. Also I want to keep lifting weights so not sure how that pays in to it. Tks again !
@jenniferhunter
Tku Jennifer. Very helpful. I ski and swim so will ask my surgeon about hardware / no hardware options for stability. Also I want to keep lifting weights so not sure how that pays in to it. Tks again !
@camendola9 Your surgeon will put a weight lifting restriction on you after surgery. Mine started at 10 pounds. My surgeon would only do a single level without hardware. I stayed in a neck brace for 3 months. That’s a lot of trust from a surgeon to allow that. My body does not like metals. I also had broken my ankle a few years after spine surgery and I reacted to the hardware and had it removed. That was a year and a half after the injury and I was living with pain from the hardware, chronic hives and getting skin pigmentation over the plates on my ankle. There are tests for reactions to materials, but you can develop the response after a period of time. That was 6 months with my ankle. I guessed right when I did spine surgery. If you have a metal cage or implant that becomes embedded by bone growth in the spine, it wouldn’t be able to be removed unless they were carving out bone. I don’t think a surgeon would do that.
My surgeon said is it heals better with a bone disc implant and that makes sense to me. The fusion is really solid as good as any healed fracture. Bone quality is an issue for anything that relies on screws to hold it in place. Often there is a space inside an implant to allow bone to grow into it and they seed that with bone removed during surgery. My bone bank implant was like that too.
Since your levels are separate single levels, perhaps your surgeon could do them one at a time if you wanted to do it with no hardware. You’d have to ask about that or if you would be offered a no hardware option. Not all surgeons will do it, but before plates and other implants were invented, this is how they did cervical fusions.
@camendola9 Your surgeon will put a weight lifting restriction on you after surgery. Mine started at 10 pounds. My surgeon would only do a single level without hardware. I stayed in a neck brace for 3 months. That’s a lot of trust from a surgeon to allow that. My body does not like metals. I also had broken my ankle a few years after spine surgery and I reacted to the hardware and had it removed. That was a year and a half after the injury and I was living with pain from the hardware, chronic hives and getting skin pigmentation over the plates on my ankle. There are tests for reactions to materials, but you can develop the response after a period of time. That was 6 months with my ankle. I guessed right when I did spine surgery. If you have a metal cage or implant that becomes embedded by bone growth in the spine, it wouldn’t be able to be removed unless they were carving out bone. I don’t think a surgeon would do that.
My surgeon said is it heals better with a bone disc implant and that makes sense to me. The fusion is really solid as good as any healed fracture. Bone quality is an issue for anything that relies on screws to hold it in place. Often there is a space inside an implant to allow bone to grow into it and they seed that with bone removed during surgery. My bone bank implant was like that too.
Since your levels are separate single levels, perhaps your surgeon could do them one at a time if you wanted to do it with no hardware. You’d have to ask about that or if you would be offered a no hardware option. Not all surgeons will do it, but before plates and other implants were invented, this is how they did cervical fusions.
@jenniferhunter
Tku Jennifer. Very helpful. I ski and swim so will ask my surgeon about hardware / no hardware options for stability. Also I want to keep lifting weights so not sure how that pays in to it. Tks again !
@camendola9 I think weightlifting will need to wait until a fusion is set. You won't feel like it anyway. Your surgeon will let you know when you can do more activity.
Recovering from surgery as we speak. Since pain from nerve compression at C6-7 improved markedly we made a last minute call to only do single fusion at C3-4 which eliminates paralysis risk. Feeling surprisingly good. Only minor sore throat (already eating solids) Dr. telling me I’m able to ski in March (which I will not do). Tku for your insight Jennifer
Recovering from surgery as we speak. Since pain from nerve compression at C6-7 improved markedly we made a last minute call to only do single fusion at C3-4 which eliminates paralysis risk. Feeling surprisingly good. Only minor sore throat (already eating solids) Dr. telling me I’m able to ski in March (which I will not do). Tku for your insight Jennifer
Also, Dr. did use titanium hardware but infused with P 15 P-15 Peptide, a 15-amino acid sequence from collagen that promotes bone regeneration by boosting cell attachment and bone growth, used in medical grafts
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Hi! I had the ACDF C6-7 (level 1) surgery in October 2024. I thank God literally every day that I did it. I woke up from the surgery, able to move all fingers and toes, and virtually was pain free in the left arm and hand where I was affected the most. Now, the rest of my body hurt, LOL, but that was short-lived compared to the excruciating pain I had been living with prior to the surgery.
Because I had a hard time finding info about this surgery beforehand, I did do a video of my experience, what to expect, and how to prepare for before and after surgery - at least from my perspective. There were things I just didn't know or think about since it's not stuff the doctor talked about, so hopefully it will help someone else ahead of time.
I had to put it on my YouTube @KDsKorner33 because it's kind of long, but hopefully informative (I can't add a link here).
Good Luck!
Anyone have double fusion. I’m having C3-4 and C6-7. Should I be concerned about neighboring vertebra ?
@camendola9
I had C4-C7 fused with plate and screws in 2014 with great success. Had previously done C4-5 fused with autologus bone from my hip then 2years later needed C5-6 fusion. So by 2014 the surgeon said I neeeded all from C4 to C7 fused again with titanium plate and screws. Today my neck is pain free.
@camendola9 Welcome to Connect. There is an increased risk of adjacent segments going bad because they will absorb more stress because they can move. That can be different for everyone. I have C5/C6 fused and have had no other issues at 9 years after surgery. I do physical therapy and myofascial release to loosen tight muscles. I also have TOS, thoracic outlet syndrome, that makes one side of my neck tighter. I do my best to loosen things so my neck won’t have extra pressure on one side. I also chose a fusion done only with bone and no hardware, so I have retained the natural flexibility that bone has. Adding metal makes the spine more rigid of course than the flexibility of bone. I believe that all of this makes a difference in avoiding future spine surgery. When I asked my surgeon about that, he said maintain core strength to support the spine. I own a horse and riding just at a walk does wonders exercising my core. I don’t do any pounding sports and my horse does not trot. I don’t want to put more wear an tear on my body.
Will you be discussing this with your surgeon? A physical therapist also is a great source of information on prevention and recovery.
@jenniferhunter
Tku Jennifer. Very helpful. I ski and swim so will ask my surgeon about hardware / no hardware options for stability. Also I want to keep lifting weights so not sure how that pays in to it. Tks again !
@camendola9 Your surgeon will put a weight lifting restriction on you after surgery. Mine started at 10 pounds. My surgeon would only do a single level without hardware. I stayed in a neck brace for 3 months. That’s a lot of trust from a surgeon to allow that. My body does not like metals. I also had broken my ankle a few years after spine surgery and I reacted to the hardware and had it removed. That was a year and a half after the injury and I was living with pain from the hardware, chronic hives and getting skin pigmentation over the plates on my ankle. There are tests for reactions to materials, but you can develop the response after a period of time. That was 6 months with my ankle. I guessed right when I did spine surgery. If you have a metal cage or implant that becomes embedded by bone growth in the spine, it wouldn’t be able to be removed unless they were carving out bone. I don’t think a surgeon would do that.
My surgeon said is it heals better with a bone disc implant and that makes sense to me. The fusion is really solid as good as any healed fracture. Bone quality is an issue for anything that relies on screws to hold it in place. Often there is a space inside an implant to allow bone to grow into it and they seed that with bone removed during surgery. My bone bank implant was like that too.
Since your levels are separate single levels, perhaps your surgeon could do them one at a time if you wanted to do it with no hardware. You’d have to ask about that or if you would be offered a no hardware option. Not all surgeons will do it, but before plates and other implants were invented, this is how they did cervical fusions.
What other questions would you ask your surgeon?
@jenniferhunter
I asked whether endoscopic solution would be possible to alleviate the C6-7 nerve area as opposed to fusion - waiting for response
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1 Reaction@camendola9 I think weightlifting will need to wait until a fusion is set. You won't feel like it anyway. Your surgeon will let you know when you can do more activity.
Recovering from surgery as we speak. Since pain from nerve compression at C6-7 improved markedly we made a last minute call to only do single fusion at C3-4 which eliminates paralysis risk. Feeling surprisingly good. Only minor sore throat (already eating solids) Dr. telling me I’m able to ski in March (which I will not do). Tku for your insight Jennifer
Also, Dr. did use titanium hardware but infused with P 15 P-15 Peptide, a 15-amino acid sequence from collagen that promotes bone regeneration by boosting cell attachment and bone growth, used in medical grafts