Hi Heather- unfortunately my life for the last 20 years has been an incredibly intense, painful and yet humbling experience. Like you, I sought advice from others and was grateful to get a response. There was a time I couldn’t talk about it. But you can’t stay in denial to long, because things like nerves that caused my toe drop when walking, if not fixed would become permanent, and could have confined me to a wheelchair. I’m glad you found comfort and future positivity from my words. I want to complete the picture of my overall experience. While my C spine was a success, I had the same procedure on my lumbar and thoracic spine, that didn’t have the same result. While the mechanical problem was fixed, recreating lumbar lordosis and eliminating my thoracic kyphosis (hunchback) I ended up with Failed back surgery syndrome(FBSS) of both the T & L spine. And now live in chronic pain with a morphine pump. But the pump is a lifesaver too.