Is fusion only recourse for anterolisthesis C2-C4

@ladybugg

I have Medicare, but I'm not facing the choice. I was just sorta asking in a rhetorical way.

Medicare here too I’m just worried about a fusion so high and losing a great deal of mobility- have not felt old until now

@crazy123 I had a cervical fusion at Mayo with Dr. Jeremy Fogelson of C5/C6. I see you need work done at a higher level. I wasn't the best candidate for disc replacement, but Dr. Fogrlson gave me the choice. I had retrolisthesis which is backward slipping of vertebrae, Your vertebrae are slipping forward. I read a lot of clinical trials information, and the disqualifier of slipping was 4 mm. I think mine was slipping 2 mm. Having one level fusion at C5/C6 didn't change my ability to move very much. Fusion of C2/C3 and C3/C4 will change your ability to turn your head. Most of that is done by C1 and C2 with some help from C3 and C4. Sometimes choices are not easy, and you have to compromise in order to keep the spinal cord and nerves functioning. If you have spinal cord compression which is possible with cervical slipping of vertebrae, that can affect the rest of the body. There are surgeons who don't operate on these higher levels. The nerves for your heart and lungs are exiting the spinal cord near there and you want an excellent surgeon. I would highly recommend Dr. Fogelson. Here is his bio.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624

@crazy123 I had a cervical fusion at Mayo with Dr. Jeremy Fogelson of C5/C6. I see you need work done at a higher level. I wasn't the best candidate for disc replacement, but Dr. Fogrlson gave me the choice. I had retrolisthesis which is backward slipping of vertebrae, Your vertebrae are slipping forward. I read a lot of clinical trials information, and the disqualifier of slipping was 4 mm. I think mine was slipping 2 mm. Having one level fusion at C5/C6 didn't change my ability to move very much. Fusion of C2/C3 and C3/C4 will change your ability to turn your head. Most of that is done by C1 and C2 with some help from C3 and C4. Sometimes choices are not easy, and you have to compromise in order to keep the spinal cord and nerves functioning. If you have spinal cord compression which is possible with cervical slipping of vertebrae, that can affect the rest of the body. There are surgeons who don't operate on these higher levels. The nerves for your heart and lungs are exiting the spinal cord near there and you want an excellent surgeon. I would highly recommend Dr. Fogelson. Here is his bio.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624