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I could use some feedback from anyone who has had cervical fusion.
Hi. I’ve had a spinal fusion from T11 on down to S1 one year ago. I still have leg weakness and balance issues. My surgeon has been giving my cervical spine in the area of C6 and 7 the stink eye for over a year and stated that my leg and balance issues, more than likely, are due to that area being narrow. He would go through the front of my throat. Help me out understanding how well this usually goes and what discomfort I will experience. This surgery just seems creepy to me.
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@bajjerfan thank you so very much for responding. Can I ask how long were you in the hospital after your surgery and were you able to go home or did they send you to rehab?
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3 Reactions@jayjay1926
One day from the cervical and 2 from the lumbar IIRC. Had to wait until the drainage subsided.
My lumbar procedure.
Lumbar 1-Lumbar 5 Posterior Spinal Fusion with instrumentation and Lumbar 4-Lumbar 5 Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion
Cervical Procedure. I thought I recall that they used cadaver bone, but maybe that was for the lumbar because they didn't harvest from my upper pelvic area then.
PROCEDURE:
Anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion at C3-4, C4-5, C5-6.
Insertion of Titanium graft interbodies at C3-4, C4-5, C5-6.
Foraminotomies, bilateral C3-C6.
Application and harvest of local bone graft and DBX material.
Anterior plating, C3-6
@jayjay1926 I didn't think pain after cervical fusion surgery was that bad. The pain meds nauseated me, so I didn't take them at all after I left the hospital. I did just fine. It was exhausting. Ice helps. If you fear pain, it makes it worse. I accepted that this was healing pain and that was a good thing. All of the spine symptom pains that I had before surgery were gone after surgery when I woke up. Think of that as progress when you get there.
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2 Reactions@jayjay1926
I’ve had an anterior cervical fusion C3-C6, and later I had a complete
C3-C6 rebuild. They had to remove the plate and 6 screws, then break my cervical spine in two places, quite literally with a hammer and chisel. Then they flipped me over, and did a three level bilateral cervical fusion with stabilization hardware of pedical screws and connecting rods, then flipped over again and replaced the anterior plating and 6 screws. That’s what they call a 360° fusion. I just had thoracic kyphosis repair immediately before this where stabilized T2-T12, that created a cervical lordosis issue that was the reason for the 360. The pain was no different than any other fusion I’ve had, and this was a twofer. One in the front, one in the back. I did have to wear a a Miami J Collar for an extended period of time and that was more discomfort then all the trauma. You have nothing to worry about the pain being worse, it’s not. Sorry about the one pic I tried twice and didn’t work. All in all, I’m fused and/or stabilized from C2-C3, T2-S1. 14 back surgeries in 10 years. I know my fusions. You got this !
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1 ReactionHad lumbar L4-5, and anterior cervical fusions C3-7. The cervical was nothing compared to the lumbar. Hardly any pain and fast recovery. Do the rehab. I don't know what levels you are having done but I can twist, turn my head and raise my arms. You got this.
I had a C5-C6 cervical fusion on the 16 and recovering great. Mine involved decompression and osteophyte removal that was pressing on my spinal cord. Had a spacer, cage and plate. I had mild/moderate pain the first two days and currently no pain at all. (My worse pain was a 4 on scale of 1-10). Worse part was a moderate sore throat. Had oxy for day one and Tylenol thereafter. Muscle relaxers help a lot. Don’t be anxious about the pain as it can be easily controlled with scheduled medications. Best wishes on your surgery.
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2 Reactions@bilt4pain DAMN, I thought I had a lot of metal in my body.
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1 ReactionI've had 2 spinal fusion procedures done on my neck, C5-C6, and 18 months later again at the C7-T1 level. The post op pain wasn't bad at all.
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2 Reactions@mjensen24 I had a C5-7 anterior fusion with metal cage several years ago. I had an excellent surgeon. I had very little pain after so I was so relived to be free of severe pain. I had to wear a cervical collar for a month except for sleeping and showering. All I could do was going for walks so nothing else. Good luck on your surgery
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3 Reactions@mrmacabre And you haven’t even the the biggest piece of hardware I have. See attached. Also visible in the foreground, the round metal thing, the size of a hockey puck, is my intrathecal drug pump, and above in the background is another metal disc implanted device, my spinal cord stimulator, and if you expand the 2 pictures you can see the gold 16 pin electrodes and wires attached to my spinal cord.
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2 Reactions