Spinal Surgery: What should I expect?

Hello sschmit77, I want to share my experiences with you and the community. In January of 2016 I developed a weakness in my right calf muscle, I then began to limp slightly and the leg began to feel a little heavier, at this point in time my left leg was perfect. In May I underwent surgery, C5/C6 decompression and fusion. The day before the operation my husband asked for my prognosis, we were given a guarantee that I would not deteriorate but that I may still limp but this may be treated by physiotherapy. Post operative recovery was excellent, I was walking unaided then in August every so often my right calf muscle began to go rigid, a month later the left calf muscle did the same, by January 2017 my hip flexors had gone rigid. First appointment with the Neurological Rehabilitation Consultant was in April 2017, in May he injected me the maximum legal dose of Botox in my calves and hips. In August I began to deteriorate, by November of last year I could barely walk and was admitted to hospital. Brain and spine MRI, lumbar puncture, blood tests etc were all fine so after a week I was transferred to rehabilitation unit. Still an inpatient and making very little progress i.e. only able to walk a very short distance due to debilitating pain in right foot due to the ankle being inverted which was never treated.

hey @sschmitt77 this is @lilgrizz. I read your intro and thought I probably didn't fit into this discussion but will pop in here anyway. Most of everyone's post is spot on about neck and mine is about degenerative scoliosis. I don't know the tech terms so please bear with me. I tried to post pics but I guess they were to big to upload. I was saying my entire spine from about the base of the neck to the top of my tailbone was degenerating, my spine looked like an S.I kept me from being from being completely deformed but didn't do much for the pain. I also have multiple sclerosis and lupus which did not help the pain either. The first surgery is when they placed the rods in and shortly after that they went in thru my stomach and fused the bottom part of the spine. My mom is 75 and just recently lost her vision so I sleep in the living room in recliners with her when she yelled at me. I jumped up and then fell really hard on my need and cracked the two rods that had been screwed into the spine where they had been placed. So I had to go back in for another surgery for the third time to have it repaired. I think I can emphasize the pain you must feel but momma always said never, ever say you know what anyone is going thru if you've never walked in there shoes. Right now I'm scared they're going to take away my pain meds because of Trump. But they can have my meds when they pry them out of my cold dead hands.lol. I laugh now but I'm sure I'll be crying later. And they don't care about the ones who suffer from severe, chronic pain. That's just plain cruel. Hey, I really hope you can find a decision you're comfortable with and you come out pain-free. God Bless You and watch over you.

Hello!
I am sorry for all that you are going through. I am sure the pain you are going through is beyond any I experience.
I know this new judgement is going to put many of us in a terrible situation.
I can only pray that he will not make a blanket ruling and will take into account those of us who live with chronic pain. I know I do not take my pain meds as often as I should for a couple of reasons and one is inability to get more.
Hope all goes well with you!
Ronnie (GRANDMAr)

My MRI shows advanced spondylosis & moderate disc bulge in C4-5 thru C6-7 and cervical kyphosis with C4, C5, C6 involved (deformed forward curve centered at C5). My question is, do these surgeries correct the kyphosis and bulging discs at the same time or do they take care of the kyphosis first and come back for the disc problems later?

If you have had spine surgery are you now glad you had it done? What was done? Was it made better or worse? Do you wish you had taken an alternative path?

Hello @daveintexas and accept my belated welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can see you are interested in connecting with others to learn more about the order in which surgeries address kyphosis and bulging discs.

I would like to bring @ohiogirl @steeldove @lotsofpain @dexan @kayskid @irene5 and @jackl into this discussion as they have also talked about dealing with kyphosis.

How long ago was your MRI?

Hello @harvey2007 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can see you'd like to connect with members who have experienced spine surgery as a way to evaluate what might be best for you.

You will notice that I have moved your post into an existing discussion on the same topic so that you can connect with members like yourself who are contemplating surgery or members who have experienced it already.

I would like to bring in members such as @jenniferhunter @steeldove @ohiogirl who may be able to share more with you.

Are you willing to share a few more details about the type of surgery that has been recommended and your health history as it relates to where you are today?

@daveintexas Sometimes spine surgeons do a cervical curvature correction along with fusing segments after removing bad discs. The curvature correction can be instrumentation with rods and screws similar to what is done on the lower spine. There is no one answer to this question because every case is different and a spine expert needs to make a recommendation. I had a single level fusion at C5/C6 with a bone spacer. My surgeon told me that it tends to make the neck dump forward just a bit which makes sense because it replaces a flexible disk with rigid bone, so you loose the ability to move that in any direction. I didn't notice any real difference in my movement since before surgery since C5/C6 doesn't play much of a role in head turning ability at all. The question of correcting kyphosis is because of the condition of the discs and bony growth that allowed the spine to permanently bend forward in the first place, so it isn't a separate issue. I did have straightening of the lordotic curve due to muscle spasms prior to surgery, and since surgery, I have had a normal curve. I only had one level damaged. With multiple levels involved, there is more pathology to allow kyphosis to happen.

@harvey2007 To answer your question... Yes... absolutely I am glad I had spine surgery. I had spinal cord compression in my neck which was causing me to loose the ability to control my arms. I also had pain all over my body. I had a great recovery and this surgery gave me my life back. I did loose some muscle to atrophy before the surgery, and got some back, but not all that I used to have. I would have done this surgery sooner, but it took 2 years to find a surgeon who would help, so after 5 refusals, I came to Mayo. I didn't realize how inefficient it would be to keep seeing doctors and waiting for everything with testing and appointments, only to be asked to wait for another test then wait for an appointment, and then when they hesitate or back out having to start over again with a new doctor. If I had been able to get help sooner, I would have more shoulder and arm muscle now. I didn't know how hard this could be when surgeons don't understand and can't connect your symptoms to your imaging. At Mayo, I found a great surgeon who understood a case like mine. I had the C5/C6 disc removed and the bone spurs that were compressing my spinal cord, and a fusion with just a bone disc spacer and no hardware. I stayed in a neck brace 3 months until it began to fuse. The only alternate paths could have been a disc replacement, but I was not a good candidate because of a bit of instability with back slipping of C5 over C6. If no surgery were done, my future would have been disability, a wheelchair and likely paralysis. There was only one good choice. Here is my patient story.
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

What a wild and weird story. Another lame reason to not provide adequate pain medication.