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.