Fusion C2-T1 pre-surgery symptoms

Cathy- I'm not a physician, but I'd recommend you find a good neurologist and get checked out before you have any surgery. The surgery will still be there after seeing a neurologist. I have both severe whole body osteoarthritis and also peripheral neuropathy. It is the neuropathy that is responsible for my numbness and tingling. Good luck on your decision and what you decide to do afterwards.

@joanland Having osteoarthritis on top of having to deal with neuropathy in our feet really sucks doesn't it? So much for our lives getting easier the older we get, very few people are that lucky.

I had lanectomy/fusion it has given great relief through out my back and my balance seems much better. I had lower back fusion done at l5-s1 about 26 years ago and it's seems to be better as far as my daily pain was in it. However I had c5 palsy but it is coming along good thanks to a round of steroids to help wake the c5 nerve up. This is just something that doesn't happen often. This is my 4th back and neck surgery and I have had great relief from all of them. And yes you will have issues above and below fusions as they take the burnt of activities. So for now I'm a month and a half from surgery and I'm walking everyday little more each day. I'm now 62 but started all this 4 years before surgery so they say it is genetic. The arthritis is why we did this last one had moderate to severe investment. But I still have never issues in my thighs had that a long time. I still use my rollator for long distance walking so I can sit down when I need too. I always tell people should keep searching for answers and fix spinal issues when you have tried everything else remember you are looking to improve you daily life but it will never be the same but your looking for pain relief and quality of living. If you have question reach out and ask anytime be glad to answer any questions you might have. Keep your chin up answers will come.

@mrmacabre
Yes, indeed. I've made it to 85 and now life is getting a bit more difficult.
Best to you, MrMcabre!

4 years ago I had C2 - T1 cervical fusion, for the first 6 months everything was good, on the 7 th month the neck started to get stiff, over the next 2 years the stiffness has increased along with headaches, pain in left arm and hand. The physical therapist says there is a nerve impingement, neurosurgeon says there is no evidence of nerve impingement. Now it’s on to the next step. Pain management injection into T2 vertebrae. If I get relief then the neurosurgeon says a T2 fusion.
I really have to rethink this as I’m over the fact that they are “ Practicing Medicine”.
Thank God they make neck collars as I get Hugh relief when wearing.

I appreciate your information.I'm about to have a C2- T1 fusion on this coming monday.Any information you can give me about the first and 2nd month of recovery.Would be very helpfull! But, for example, how long were you in the hospital? How long till you could do activities of daily living? How long were you on narcotics?And were you comfortable after you were weaned off? Really?Looking forward to getting some information before hand.

@kathymrowse my recovery went very well, resting is the best advice. After the first week I walked around my yard making sure not to lift anything over a couple of pounds. I think it took me three to four months of not doing much before getting back to some sort of a routine, it take one year of having to use a bone stimulator collar a couple hours each day. This was to help bone growth cover the screws that were used for surgery.
Only in hospital for 4 days. Fortunately the discomfort was minimum and that allowed me to get thru the days without taking pain medication very often.
I had a lot of pain in my left arm after surgery (off and on) and I still do several times a week, physical therapy has helped some. I just had Pain Management do injections yesterday to the T -2 to see if there was any relief in tightness in shoulders and neck, as of this morning I don’t think it has helped. Deep tissue Massage therapy seems to help the most.
Best advice I could give is take it very easy after your surgery , don’t lift anything over a few pounds, go to therapy.

@wornout thank you.This very good information, my surgeon keeps saying it's a major surgery.And it's very painful, which worries me.He'll only treat me with narcotics for 2-3 weeks, so he's trying to get me into chronic pain specialist in case I need more. I don't mind taking it easy, but my big problem is mobility.It's pressing on the spinal cord.And I almost can barely walk anymore, even with a walker, I am so unbalanced. My neurosurgeon has done 2 spine surgeries on me in the past. And I completely trust him. It's about my husband died five months ago.So this is my first surgery to love, and take care of me. I'll be going to rehab for 2to 3 weeks. Up my neurosurgeon anticipates.I will get most use of my legs back, which is very encouraging

Sorry to hear about your husband. Get as much pain medication as you need for the first few days, it will help. My Neurosurgeon would not write a script for a hard pain medication for more than 30 days, fortunate to not need them. Now I occasionally take a Tramadol 50 mg maybe 2-3 times a month, just to relax the muscles after ongoing therapy.
Good Luck
Please let us know how it went