7 weeks post-op posterior cervical spine surgery

How long did you stay in the hospital for the anterior surgery? Stay safe if you continue surfing!!!!!! Thanks for the info. My surgery is on Halloween C4-C7 and it is anterior disectomy and fusation.

I know this was posted 6 years ago, but since this is the exact symptoms I'm having (pain in my triceps post surgery) I figured I'd reply to m1chae12's posting in the hopes that he or someone else might respond.

I would love to hear what the outcome of his surgery was long-term, or from others as well. I had my surgery 4 weeks ago an am ipatient to get back to all of the things I was doing before surgery.

Hello! I also just had posterior c-spine surgery,they removed cervical plate anterior{front}, then did posterior decompression, with 3rods inserted at c5,c6,c7. I had excruciating pain the first 2 weeks, now Im at 31/2 weeks out, the pain is tolerable as long as I don't try to do too much, yesterday I dusted a little and was in aot od pain, but considering how I was before, tremors in both hands, pain, in both hands arms, shoulders, I can deal with this, but have applied for disa bility, it will take at least 3 months, for the fusion, and at least a yr., afterwards, im hanging in there, also have to wear a bone stimulator, 24/7 ubtil dr. thinks it has healed, good luck to you on your recovery as well.

I am 4 months post op for posterior cervical thoracic fusion C5-T2. Surgery was 7/26/12. The pain is still horrid. Still having swelling and spasms. Muscle pain and weakness in right hand. Its been a LONG recovery. I also have scoliosis and had hardware from T2-L1 with fusion, rods were removed in 2011. The whole story:

I am on my 4th spine surgery since 1997. I have scoliosis, curvature of the spine, so at age 20 I had fusion and hardware from T2-L1, I guess being that I was younger it was easier for me on that surgery...I had a solid fusion within 3 months...it only took about 6 months of severe pain and narcotics and I was better...until I couldn’t turn my neck in about 2000, the surgeon had made one of the rods too long so they removed a portion of the rod and a hook at T1. Then of course I had occasional pain due to the hardware and just having so much of my spine fused but I could live with the pain. Then in 2007 I started having some neck pain, tingling fingers, loss of range of motion in my neck...went back to the surgeon and they said I had Cervical stenosis, narrowing of the spinal canal and my spinal cord was caught in between the C6-C7. They wanted to do an anterior artificial disc replacement, but for some reason I was just not ok with the idea of them cutting the front of my neck open and putting that cage thing in, after hearing it could cause swallowing problems....so I just lived with the pain and side effects of the disc degeneration. Apparently having the scoliosis rods and fusion from T2-L1 had led to excessive wear and tear of the cervical spine...of course I had increasing pain and had to get back on narcotics. Then fast forward to 2010. I was assaulted at work, I had a massive concussion and the impact of me being slammed to the floor made the pain more than I could handle....so now some type of surgery had to be done. The ortho on 2/14/11 removed all my old scoliosis hardware as the impact from the assault broke one of the rods in my spine. That recovery was live a living hell...but after a year the pain was getting worse in my neck...so the ortho didn’t feel qualified to do a neck surgery, being that the spinal cord was already impinged in the C6-C7...so I went to a Neurosurgeon and agreed to have a posterior cervical fusion from C5-C7. I had that surgery on 7/26/12, but when the neurosurgeon was inside he discovered that the T1 was broken in 3 places so they had to fuse me from C5-T2 and connect the new fusion to the old fusion. It has not been a cakewalk to say the least and I know you all understand how painful the recovery is....So now I have 14 screws and 2 rods in my neck. I am very conservative with my pills. I am only taking 2 Norco per day and 3 Valium. I get weekly trigger point injections which seem to help with the spasms but still it’s not fun.

I am soo very sorry to hear of your constant surgeries and pain. I've only had a posterior laminectomy at C=3 and C-4, which was mainly to remove bone spurs from a gazebo falling on neck and shoulders during a bad windstorm..That was March30, 2012. Now going back to see my awsome surgeon about a posterior fusion, same area. He said my neck was unstable, and I knew this for the1st, but we tried without the fusion anyways..so here I am,9 mos later, surgery for Jan or Feb. Hope it's the last as I don't have time!!! to keep doing this. Today had a radiofrequency on sacro and my nurse said she had just been through this cervical fusion surgery, C=3thruC-7...the anterior hurts much less, but there's swallowing issues. The posterior was pure hell for a fusion, pain was harder and lasted longer, 9 mos for her! Hmmmm. Will definately discuss this with my dr. Hope you are much improved soon as living with pain is something no one can even begin to appreceiate until it has affected THEM.....Cathie

can i ask if u went through with it? I had symptoms very similar to you and now I am experiencing some improvement exactly as you described...

This is for Gilmore...I had a triple lamanectomy c3-c6. Post surgery did not help and did not recovered well. Still trying to find the problem, but your symptoms sound very similar. Beyond your symptoms, add a huge knot on the side of my neck and painful feet after rest. I would love to find out if anyone has found what your problem is. I recently went into severe pain down the R arm and have lost function on my R ring and pinky finger, and pain down the arm. Kept tellling Dr.'s that there was still something wrong. Just kept loading me up with pills.
Anyone with any ideas?

Im scheduled for cervical sergery on april 5th, Im scared , but ok with it, because I know I have to have this done, Not sure what to expect, please help with any information you may have to assist me.

I feel the same way, its been 4weeks since my surgery and im still taking pain meds and muscle relaxers. I still have some trouble swallowing at times, and a weird uneasy feeling. I thought I would feel much better by now.

Hello, after reading most of everyone response, they're on or near target. Your Doctor is the Best for answers, so ask, the others are good for not feeling alone. Myself, I've had 3 cervical surgeries. The 1st, was C56-67, anterior; I call that the miracle, in at 8am, surgery at 11am, home the next day at 10am. All by the book, the surgery, the recovery, the pain, even returned to work faster than expected (school bus driver). Then, 6 weeks into returning to work, some id**t cut in front of my school bus and slammed on their brakes ( no children on board, thank god), that accident destroyed my recent neck surgery, and now,7 years later and 2 surgeries, the last being 2009, posterior C34,56,67,T1. I refused to let them start on the sciatica until Im at least 4 years post op. Just for curiosity's sake, the accident was an insurance scam (as per the police Officer) I was not charged for rear-ending a vehicle, I can no longer drive a school bus (can't pass the physical) and yes I have a lawyer. The only advice I would give would be avoid the posterior approach, for me it caused the worst pain and the longest recovery, If it was truly explained to me like the anterior was, I would never have agreed to the posterior, unless it was absolutely the only way!

Singapore has a distinctive place in Asia for value based and ethical standards of the medical profession. Singapore government's health policy is quite stringent and regulations are tight. Excellent safety record established by Singapore Doctors is second to none. Accreditation of various medical faculties in Singapore by world class medical organizations is another feather to their cap. These are the reasons why most of the patients worldwide prefer Singapore Doctor's expertise.

***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed***Please read our Terms of Use

HI all,

I had posterior cervical and fusion surgery 14 week ago. I feel the back and neck pain i usually have is gone. However ,I am having s   evere arm pain. The pain is on my right side and is mostly under my arm-pit. I am taking flexeril and ibroprofen. My right hand feel like it is hanging, but worse pain and I mean SEVERE is under my right am. Can anyone relate and give me some advice, thanks and good luck to all

I have read most ou your posts on cervical spine surgery.I amd 3 1/2 weeks post artificial cervical disk replacement surgery.  My pain level has been considerably low.  While in hospital and about 1 week after my biggest complaint was sore throat due to anesthesia however I was hungry and able to eat as soon as I left recovery room.  All of the nerve pain, headaches and nausea pre surgery are gone.  My biggest complaint at this time is wearing the hard neck brace mostly due to sweating especially when outdoors.  However just this week I have begun to feel like I have a "bug".  Fatigue, lack of appetite and slight weight loss(which is always a welcome problem.  I wondering if this is due to the anesthsesia/pain meds finally gone from my body.  I took very little pain medication after surgery and once I got home.  My doc offered me musscle relaxers and I  asked "why". 

I am scheduled for lumbar surgery once I'm healed from this as I have severe spinal stenosis in addition to a couple of other problems.  I KNOW THIS SURGERY WILL NOT BE THE PIECE OF CAKE CERVICAL SURGERY WAS.  I laughingly tell my family and friends that I look foward to being Wonder Woman when this is all done.

Good luck to all who have had the surgery and those who are considering it. I was petrified at the thought of him entering via my throat and I'm 65 years old.  But Praise God all is succssesful so far.

 

i hope you are better now. I have never replied to anythinng before. I am not very techy. I am always sad to see things not responded to or especially mocked. I lose faith in people. I have spinal cord impingement, ddd,multiple degenerated,herniated discs,severe spondoloysis,radiculapathy and severe stenosis. Basicly, I think thet all go together. I read so many sad things. I have finally been approved for anterior approach spinal fusion for three areas in my neck. But reading all these bad outcomes is scarey.Pain can be just as scarey. As you know, Is it worse now? I am older than you but have suffered 17 years. I have an 18 year old and two adopted kids ages 5 and 6. I have adifferent outlook because I considered this opportunity to have surgery a blessing. I could be wrong but I plan to go forward. I will be going out of state so these long recovery stories make me think thats not possible. Are you on pain medication? I was looking forward to stopping mine. I also wonder what state you had surgery in. You probably wont be returning to this site and I am so bad with computers I wouldnt know how to; nevertheless,I would say try to be happy, I know how hard it is, But when I stopped being so angry and bitter and tried to love my family and be alive until Im dead ,things got better for me. It took me a long time,but I got there. Faith preceads the mirracle.Do not believe the pain Doctor,He is just a man. I've recovered from things I should have died from. Look back at your life and you will see the many times you defied the odds. Why not now? You are young, You can overcome this.I hope that you already have. Bless you and all that suffer.

I had posterior cervical spine surgery 3.5 weeks ago to relieve pressure on my spinal cord caused by bone spurs. I have 70% of my energy back but still having nerve pain down my forearms and muscle pain around and above the incision. I did not have fusion and wearing a hard neck brace instead. I did not get a lot of info from my surgeon on post op recovery so I wondering if anyone can tell me if my symptoms are normal and how long they will likely last ? Thank you