Looking at C4-C5 fusion, on Evenity first for osteopenia

I think I can relate a little to your concerns over cervical surgery. Do you know if the surgery approach is from the front or back? In my case the procedure the result of an accident is called Anterior (front) Cervical Decompression and Fusion or ACDF. The surgeon moves the throat to the side to gain access to the spine. He removed the C4 disk and installed a disc replacement then topped it off with a titanium plate spanning C4-C7 using 8 screws. The surgery went without any hitches and I spent the night in the hospital for observations. A note, pack some TUMS or anti-acids because I developed a bad case of acid indigestion and since my chart didn't have anti-acids on it the nurse wouldn't give me any. Anyway the next morning all was fine and I went home.
That's when I came to realize that difficulty with swallowing would be a side effect of moving the throat to the side. I was un-able to swallow anything to big or thick, no bread to dry, no medium chunky food of any kind. The obvious goal is to consume enough calories to keep you going and found that was harder than I thought. What would be my main source of calories for weeks was protein smoothies, something that was the right consistency and had some protein, even though it took a while to get it all down. I read that age was an issue when it came to how long it would take to get past this problem, for me about 5 months before I felt comfortable to go out and get a burger. It's been a year since my accident and I've had several followup appointments preceded each time by a trip to get x-rays to check bone growth progress. In the beginning of my recovery I was introduced to a electronic bone stimulator. It looks something like the business end of a metal detector without the handle. (have posted a picture I hope). You place the coil behind the neck, sit back in your easy chair press the go button and let it do it's thing for a pre-programmed 30 min therapy, once every 24 hours, I did this for 9 months. I'm still scheduled for yearly followup appointments.
Obviously the stimulator assists the body in covering the plate in bone to harden the repair. The neurologist told me that the plate creates a very stable and solid, will not bend, link from C4-C7, but where the plate starts and ends will be at risk of injury if I fall again. Bottom line for me is DON'T FALL!!! As I said it's been a little over a year and I'm a little better each week. I'm now back to gardening, home repair, yard work and have regained about 90% of my peripheral vision. Looking UP is about 70-80% back to before and will probably won't get much better.
Hope this helps...

Just curious, but what kind of physical therapy can help in a situation like yours? I've had 2 separate spinal fusion procedures done on my neck, first at the C5-C6 level, and 18 months later at the C7-T1 level. They were both done through my throat without any swallowing issues, and I don't remember if physical therapy was even offered, but they were done in late 2016 and Fall of 2018, so it's been a while.

@mrmacabre , 2 months in a neck brace and ACDF surgery left me with stiff and sore shoulders, neck and back muscles. Rehab was is a series of stretching exercises and daily walks to improve and maintain leg strength and balance. After a year of getting back to my life of gardening, house repairs, farm work both the neck and shoulders have all improved a lot as it relates to being stiff and sore. Other than that I"m just living my life with only a slight decrease in peripheral range and slightly more lost when it comes to looking up.

@steve161 Maybe I just got lucky, I was in my late 50's when I had these procedures. They were done by 2 different neurosurgeons at 2 different hospitals, with basically no complications. I've also lost some range looking up or down and side to side, but it's not enough to stop me from driving.