Repair of Failed C-5-6 Fusion from Posterior

@snel2112 Welcome to Connect. I am also an anterior cervical fusion patient. I remember my surgeon telling me that a fusion heals better with a bone implant rather than one manufactured from foreign materials. He also told me the posterior approach is more painful and a longer recovery. Your surgeon probably wants to avoid creating too much scar tissue in the front surgical area, as mine also said a second surgery would be through the posterior if it was needed.

If you had a surgical plate in your first surgery, perhaps it was holding things together. I don't have hardware at all, and just wore a neck brace until it fused.

Was your cardio weight class putting excessive weight or pounding on your spine? That is something I would worry about, and I don't want any extra pounding force putting wear and tear on my spine. Lifting weights will also put a load on the spine since some shoulder muscles and muscles connected to the scapula are attached to the spine. Perhaps my choices wouldn't be the same as yours and I don't know your story. It's just my thoughts.

@jenniferhunter, thanks for your reply, much appreciated. I recall my first fusion at age 64 was a breeze. I had one night in the hospital and was walking laps on the floor the next morning as my husband was napping in my bed. I did have the hardware put in during my fusion. Anyway, I really don't remember any pain at all and took no pain meds. I did follow all doctor orders on lifting/twisting etc and had to wear a soft collar for 3 weeks. When cleared for exercise, I did go back to my BodyPump classes which I had been doing for 30 plus years. Fortunately the weights were minimal, 5 to 10 pounds, but it was heavy cardio.

My current surgeon said that any repetitive exercise over many years will eventually wear down the joints (think Tommy John surgery for baseball pitchers). People are so much more active now and living longer, so joints wear out. I will be happy if he can just get me pain free and back to simply walking, hiking and biking. Unfortunately I think my cardio/weight classes are behind me. My surgery will likely be in early February after the tests come back and I meet with the surgeon on Jan 20.

Hi, sorry you are going through all of this. I had anterior cervical discectomy with fusion on c5 c6 almost 4 years ago. The scar is small on my neck and they do a good job as far as that goes. I also have horrible issues going on and its hard to find someone willing to help after 1 fusion already. I feel for you. As far as the anterior approach he is talking about, I think it will go well for you given the last surgery went so well. I was out of the hospital 4 hours after surgery with no brace or anything. The headaches and shoulder pain are a whole different level nowadays.

YES! I had similar!!! After years of cervical pain and a fantastic LUMBAR fusion surgery. The pain in my cervical spine finally stopped me from living. My spine surgeon just was not sure. He reluctantly agreed to do the surgery. It was anterior and it was WONDERFUL! However, my neck bones were compromised. C5 fell apart in their hands. There was no way in advance no test made that prepared them for what they found when they opened me up. But they gave it a shot. I’m thinking that’s why they didn’t notice your situation. When I went in for postop a few days after being home, the screws had moved. My surgeon took me right back in for posterior surgery. Any accidental fall could’ve paralyzed me for the rest of my life. Your spine sits very deep in your body from the posterior side. Interior surgery is a breeze posterior will take more time. However, I don’t see you can’t move for a year that’s ridiculous. I think you end up in the brace for three or six months again, but I’ve had many joint replacements and I consider them opportunities to do other things in my life That I sideline because of my active lifestyle. So I suggest you prepare. Lineup months of reading you want to catch up on, movies, visits with friends and family, and things you might wish to do if you had the time. Let me correct that you absolutely will be able to exercise in your healing and recovery. I am a walker and as soon as I was given permission, I was out there with my brace walking the neighborhood explaining to the neighbors my cervical surgery. I live by myself, and I hired a caregiver to take care of me for a couple of weeks while I couldn’t get around. The rehab is mobile now and they can come to your house. That starts pretty quickly after the doctor sees you in postop. I was driving at eight weeks and driving to the rehab. After three months, they start exercising your atrophy muscle muscles. I had a really severe cervical posterior surgery and they were exercising my muscles at three months at PT. Recovery from this cervical surgery was longer than my other joint replacements because I had a compounded problem of being what they call “round shouldered” from birth. All of my joint replacement surgeries take a total of a year to be in the rearview mirror.(five months I am stiffly doing my normal lifestyle.) but this one took two years – – but we have to remember I had two MAJOR surgeries one following the other within the month! If you have good doctors that you really trust then I think you can stop crying and look forward to getting your life back after all this pain!
I am an artist and still actively doing art. After two cervical spine surgeries and one major lumbar surgery and two hip replacement surgeries and a few other things at 68 years old I am doing the things ILOVE. You can look up my name on Google: Lori Escalera Artist and you will see I do these huge 8 x 10‘ pavement. Art drawings in the street in a weekend. My last one done AFTER spine surgery. This year in 2025 I have gone smaller and adapted and I am working more at the easel which is where I always wanted to be instead of the street. You will be fine. You’ll be so happy that you are not getting the pain of headache, headaches, and back aches and all the rest and the nerve disruptions.
My doctor always does a little less on me because he wants to leave me with mobility so I can do my artwork. And honestly, it is a trade-off because in all of my surgeries I still carry some pain from arthritis and being mobile. But I want to work And I will work even through the pain. Aging can be difficult for some of us. Acceptance is really important not to mention finding a tremendous orthopedic surgeon that you can love for the rest of your life.

@livininthestix

Thanks for your comments. You are absolutely right that finding a surgeon to even acknowledge you have an issue, diagnose the problem and agree to operate is near impossible. Over the past year I went to my neurosurgeon who did my original C5-6 fusion 8 years ago, and 3 other top rated neurosurgeons, even flew to Chicago from FL to Northwestern Memorial, and no one wanted to touch repairing and stabilizing a past fusion (which never fused) and clean up bone spurs and clear an impinged nerve, or even offer a guess of what my problem is. I was shocked that I could be in so much debilitating pain and I could barely get a diagnosis. One surgeon said, "well, you may have a torn ligament in your neck". What, after a year of pain, living on the sofa, and it gets worse every month??

@snel2112 its crazy how so many people on here have similar experiences. Its great that we can connect on here and see what works and what doesn't. Just being able to vent and read that we are not alone in this is awesome. The struggle is real but hope remains. In reality it sucks lol. We got this!!! I will keep you posted on my path to getting my life back and if I can help in any way I am glad try.