Cervical Spine Operation

I am a cervical spine patient that had C5/6 and C6/7 fused with hardware in 2022. My surgery occurred near the end of pandemic restrictions so regretfully, my support person could not be with me at all during the 24 hr hospital stay. I had herniated discs pressing on my spine and arthritic changes in the foraminal spaces that pinched the nerve bundles to both arms. Pre-surgery, arm pain was unbearable but I never had neck pain. When I woke up after the operation, the arm pain was completely gone, but the top of my left shoulder was very painful, presumably from retracting the muscles during the surgery which was through an incision on the front of my neck. I only had minor difficulty swallowing for 1-2 days. I did not have head or neck movement restrictions afterwards except for self-imposed restrictions from fear that I would damage something. My driving was restricted for 5 days while on pain medications and I did not have to wear a neck collar. The psychological fear of moving my head became quite problematic and continued until my PT convinced me to let him stretch my neck and increase flexibility. Residual shoulder pain slowly went away over a period of 9 months. All the preparatory suggestions offered by Jennifer and others are excellent, especially the elastic shoe laces and placing everything within easy reach.
When you can use your arm again, you will not regret the decision to have this surgery. I am so grateful to be able to swing my arms while going for a walk and not be up all night in pain and traction as the aftermath. I wish you well, let us know how you are doing post-surgery, Donna.

Thanks, zeek, your message is very encouraging to me. Other people are saying it takes 3 to 6 months to recover from this kind of spine surgery. Looks like your recovery was faster and that lifts my mood. I appreciate your comment. Thank you! Donna

I felt 15 years younger after my surgery; hopefully you will too!

Good morning Donna Mc. You did not say what type of cervical surgery you will have at the end of the month (discectomy or also fusion?) - information that has a large impact on your likely recovery. But some thoughts...Getting to your spine through the front of your neck is the currently best way to do it. I had a full C4-7 ACDF in Feb and I'm left now (six months post) with only the slightest of horizontal scars right on my left collar bone. A bit of make-up would render the scar invisible. I did wear a brace for nearly six weeks (because of the fusion and four-level work) which kept me from driving and it took me awhile to gain comfort with it. So if you have a brace and/or while you're on heavy pain meds - you will need a care-giver. Swallowing was not a big problem. I ate progressively normal food starting with soft stuff at first. I just reviewed my diary (yes - maintain a diary. It will help you manage through the typical post-surgical PTSD as well as mark your recovery since it's easy to lose time-perspective) and see I was feeling pretty good at just seven days and really good at 14 days. Now (plus six months) I do not even think of my neck. I'm very happy I did the surgery and hope the best for you. Keep a positive attitude, don't push yourself too hard, and learn to manage the PTSD/possible depression associated with such surgeries. Tell us all how it goes!

Cams - I see you had your surgery yesterday. Hope it went well. Please - do tell...

Thank you, Upstate, Phil, and everyone who’s still following this thread. My surgery was scheduled for today, however, it’s been postponed until October 12. I had an electrical anomaly on my preop EKG that needs to be investigated first. The month of September will be spent having echocardiograms and stress tests, then follow ups with the cardiologist and my primary care physician before I can be cleared for surgery. So, fingers crossed that this blip in my readiness for surgery will be resolved over the next 30 days and I’ll be back on track for surgery in October. I appreciate the great advice I’ve gotten from all of you! I will update this thread as I get more information in September. Thanks, everyone!

Oh my! Hoping this is just a blip and you'll get back on track for October surgery!!!

Why no omega-3?

They usually contain fish oil, which will make your incision area bleed.

Thank you, Upstatephil. I am now 6 weeks post-surgery - posterior C2-T2 decompression and fusion. I am doing well now…minimal pain and feel like healing is going well. The first two weeks, however, were very difficult. I was sent home after two nights in the hospital. We had a 3.5 hour drive home…that took 5 hours due to required rest/walking stops. My condition kind of spiraled on the way home. In hind sight, I was kept very hydrated at the hospital and on the trip home, my hydration slipped and not sure how timely we were with pain meds - the car ride took a lot out of me. By the time we got home I could barely move. We managed - with a neighbor’s help - to get me upstairs to my bed.

The first two nights (Fri & Sat) we had a terrible time with pain management and over the weekend had several calls to Mayo’s on-call staff to try and improve the situation. The best help came on Monday after talking with my doctor’s nurse. Wish we would have had access to my doctor’s office over the weekend - or that they had called us before end of business on Friday to check on me.

For the first week home I needed help with all activities of daily living (ADLs) - eating, toileting, showering, transferring from bed to chair, etc. Thankfully my husband and two adult daughters were there to help day and night with my needs and medication administration. I could not have been home alone for the first 8 days…it was tough. (Let me make a caveat: I also suffer from Fibromyalgia. I believe part of my problem was the Fibromyalgia’s backlash from the surgery. I believe it really complicated pain management and my mental and physical strength.)

Through that first week I did walks up and down the hallway with a walker and followed the doctor’s orders for pain management and physical improvement. My incision took about 4 weeks to heal completely.

My helpful suggestions are:
- Have your laundry done and a collection of easy-to-wear (not too tight) clothing in one, easy-to-reach place.
- Have a bed rail support bar, shower chair and a grabber reacher.
- Have help planned day and night for at least the first few days until you know you can manage your medications and mobility. If you are on strong paid meds - Oxycodone, etc. - plan to have someone there. I had bad dreams and minor hallucinations (that required emotional support) until we were able to taper off to just Tylenol and Tramadol.
- Be prepared for your dignity to take a hit - you may need help with toileting, showering, dressing, and even eating for a few days.

Now 6-weeks after surgery I am doing fine. My before surgery pain down my arms and neck have greatly improved. At a couple different points each day I need to lie down…my head starts to feel like a bowling ball sitting on my neck and I need to take the weight off. I’m having 6-week post-surgery x-rays done today, and hopefully the doctor will allow me to start phasing out of the brace and begin PT after seeing the x-rays. I hope to be cleared to drive and free of the brace completely by the end of October.

As a friend said…This surgery is not for wimps….LOL.