Anyone had an Anterior Cervical Corpectomy and Discectomy with Fusion?

Hello @jesfactsmon.

I'd like to invite @cocodab and @ed32 back as both have talked about undergoing a corpectomy on Connect in the past. I'd also like to invite @amywood20, @jmweissler and @jenniferhunter, who have all undergone an anterior cervical discectomy. You can also read some of their posts in the following discussion, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/curcumin-after-disc-fusion/.

@jesfactsmon, it sounds as though your friend is doing her due diligence before undergoing a major surgery. Do you know what your friend's biggest fear or concern is? The recovery, the surgery itself?

I had a Corpectomy in 2010. I wish I can give you good news but I can not. It is a very difficult surgical. They go they through the front to repair and replace the Vertebrae and also support that area. Mime was C4 through C6
I had it done at the spine center at UCSF and a one of the head surgeons did the surgery.
They tell you of all the things that can go wrong 3%.
Personally I wonder if it’s more than that.
Once I came out of surgery I could not move my right arm.
It was dead. The surgeon had cut a nerve. It felt like I was carrying 30 pounds of cement. The pain was unbearable. The sent me home with large amounts of pain killers and actually didn’t want to see me. I just wanted help but was in so much pain pretty much sat in a recliner for a year. Got new doctors that care! Have finally excepted my new normal but live in pain and now also have neuropathy that is growing like mold. So what I found out is that Corpectomy is not a surgery that is vastly done most times when I mention it people don’t even know what it is. It is very invasive. So if there is some other way around it I would look into it.
This is my story. Hope you find a good good for Corpectomy.

Sorry but I talk into the phone and it makes mistakes 😔

Thank-you for telling your story @cocodab I have passed along to my friend the info about joining Connect and I hope he does. She said she has spinal stenosis, did you have that? Did you get any feeling back in your arm? Was the surgery otherwise successful except for the accidental severing of the nerve? That is a horrible outcome but I am interested in how successful just the surgery itself was. With my friend it sounds like they are going to do two separate things, a corpectomy and a discectomy, unless those are two words describing two aspects of the same procedure. The whole thing does sound scary to me.

It is now 2020. I can actually hind that my arm doesn’t work but it actually feels like it not attacked and it causes me so much pain because I always feel like I’m carrying it around. It’s also handy on my neck and my whole right side hurts including my neck and I have sciatica the whole thing is a mess. I wake up with headaches almost everyday. I sit around it abound 11am try get dressed then I lay down because I got so tired.
Everything is a effort! I don’t complain and pretty much have isolated myself.
If and when people see me and it’s for a short period of time I hide it. The feelings I got back is pins needles sharp pains stabbing pains numbness freezing etc...

Spinal Stenosis with a flatten cord

Because of a car accident in 2009.

Well your situation is certainly heart rending. I hope things improve for you. It's concerning to hear you are isolated. I hope you have someone helping you or listening to you or advocating for you. I got onto Connect due to my wife's neuropathy and the neuropathy forums are loaded with people who understand what it is and can sympathize. It doesn't mean she is any closer to a cure but it really helps for informational exchange as well as a compassionate ear. I hope you find help and solace in your situation somehow. And I know that people with a strong spiritual background get help that way also. Everyone needs something/someone to be a source of strength to lean on. My wife's faith in God has certainly helped her. Good luck to you.

Thank you, you are very kind.

I had ACDF C4-C6 on December 19th. I would say recovery is going pretty good, so much so that during my six week follow-up the surgeon's PA said I did not need to come back for another appointment unless I had an issue come up or physical therapy didn't help. Most of my symptoms involved the left arm/hand/shoulder. That's what I am going to PT for. I will say this surgery is not cookie-cutter in terms of the healing process. Everyone is different in how they heal, which is based on what needs to be done, how long the issue was there before surgery, age, health, physical activity level, smoker vs non-smoker, etc. Also, it seems that the surgeons have their own preference in terms of having to wear a collar/neck brace after surgery, bending restrictions, lifting restrictions, etc. Post op I only had to wear a soft collar when riding in a vehicle and that was just to protect the neck in the case of an accident. Some have to wear them nearly 24/7 for various amounts of time, which could be three months. My surgeon doesn't like patients wearing a collar/brace because the neck muscles weaken, but other surgeons require it. Like I said, it really varies. I had mine done by a spine specialist. Some go to an orthopedic doctor. It takes a long time for the nerves to heal after surgery, as they regenerate at a very slow rate. I'm not talking weeks, but months...even up to a year. Pain that isn't nerve-related goes away much faster though. I know your friend is scared but she really needs to get this taken care of. The longer she goes the higher the risk of the nerves not healing. I don't know if it's allowed to mention a Facebook group in these forums, but there is one for ACDF. I am in it and there is a lot to be learned there from others. Having said that, if she were to join that group it needs to be taken for what it is. Those with good outcomes don't stick around that much after healing, as they move on with their lives. Those that are struggling tend to post more, as they are seeking support from others. But like I said, I have found it helpful. It sounds like your friend's cervical spine is in worse shape than mine. I don't want her going into surgery and then being disappointed if she doesn't recover at the rate I am going at. I had very high expectations for how I thought I would feel immediately after surgery. Some wake up and the nerve pain is gone. I know a few like that. But, those tend to be the exceptions...which I didn't realize. When I woke up and had the same pain in the upper left shoulder blade and other areas, I was pretty frustrated. I had new pain that I did not have before surgery. So, she really needs to go into it without expectations since again, it is going to vary. One thing I did not know about before surgery was how the surgeon pins the arms down to help access the cervical spine. The arms get pulled and pinned tightly. That can cause quite a bit of post op pain. Also, when the cervical spine has discs replaced it causes the height to go back to where it should be. This stretches a lot of muscles connected to the neck. Again, this can cause pain, spasms, etc. I hope what I have mentioned is helpful. If she wants to join that Facebook group let me know and I will post the title of it.