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Has anyone had cervical myelopathy and ALS?

Spine Health | Last Active: May 26, 2022 | Replies (20)

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@jenniferhunter

@larryk1 Thanks for the update. A physical therapist is a great ally for you. You can ask all the questions you want and they have lots of time to answer plus lots of experience rehabbing patients from surgery. I have learned so much from my PT. PT's also work with people on balance, and I think you may feel better doing this because you will be working at improvement. It is very early, and a lot can change as time goes on. Believe that you can get better. That will go a long way to help you improve because patients who believe they CAN do something usually can do it. Progress is measured over months, not days. Don't tell yourself that you are not making progress, because you are, but it is slower than you expected. Please be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to relax and take time to heal. When you are stressed, it just impairs your healing because of all the stress hormones that are created. Please be kind with your surgeon. You are part of his team with the shared goal of improving your condition.

I would like to share with you some conversations I had with Mitch @birdman518 as he went through a similar cervical surgery and a complication with his arms. When I first talked to Mitch, he was worried about falling, and it turned out that he had a cervical spine problem. His progress was slow after surgery, and he has shared his journey. Here are the links to the discussions. He is a few more months past surgery than you are, but it may help to read our conversations.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/falling-2/
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/finally-met-with-neurosurgeon/
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/acdf-scheduled-for-wednesday/
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/update-2-months-post-c3-c6-acdf-surgery/
When will you be starting physical therapy?

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Replies to "@larryk1 Thanks for the update. A physical therapist is a great ally for you. You can..."

Jennifer, Thank you for your encouragement. I needed to read your words to remain hopeful and positive. I am still waiting for my MRI appointment and my appointment for injections.
Good health free of pain and free of worry to all.

Monday, physical therapist has not seen this condition in her 11 years of doing physical therapy, gave me home stretches. So really not much has happened.