Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion (ACDF) recovery

I am writing this hoping this will help others... I had ACDF in April, 2013. After doing a lot of research prior to this surgery,

you are never really prepared. I know everyone is different. I had C-5, 6 and 7 done with titanium plates. They went

in through the right side of my neck. Please make sure you choose the right Neurosurgeon who has many years experience

doing this procedure and choose the right hospital to have this procedure done. This is very important!!! I had a bad

experience with this procedure and the care at the hospital was so unprofessional, dirty, staff not only made fun of me,

but made fun and verbally stated their unkind words about other patients. Sad that I or anyone that chose this surgery

for a better quality of life would have this bad experience imbedded in their memory bank. I was not given the much needed

proper "tools" when discharged from this horrible hospital; neck brace, proper medication, limitations, etc. I was on my own.

I relied on the internet and just being very cautious and guarded with my movements. My experience with recovery; Be very

thorough with instructions prior to being discharged from the hospital; make certain surgeon sees you to check dressing on surgical sight and change dressing, getting neck brace, medications, any restrictions to include; lifting and movement, proper way to sleep (position of neck), direct phone numbers to get a hold of surgeon, due to anesthesia and pain meds, get meds for

constipation and set appointments for post op with surgeon and continued after care. Make sure a CAT scan is done

after surgery to ensure this surgery was well done and working! Be prepared for serious pain and discomfort and a long

recovery. *Remember, this surgery severs nerves, therefore you will feel strange pain, numbness and discomfort in several

different parts of your body. Hope this helps.

I am going for surgery on Sept 9th and I started to wonder if all of these negative statements are from American's as I live in Canada. I gather your throat feels like you have had a tonsils out? Soft easy to swallow like jello or puddings? Thank you for your comments. I wish more positive comments would be placed here. Cheers!

I am now almost 3 months post-op following ACDF of c4-c5 and c5-c6 with plating. I commented on my surgery when I was 10 days post-op and reported great results. At this point I can say that things even got better after that posting. The only discomfort I had that lasted beyond the 2 week mark was some swallowing difficulty and that is just about back to normal now. Frankly I don't even think about the surgery except to realize how much better I feel now that I had the disks removed. Not sure whether the other respondents have had PT following the surgery but I think you should consider it. I needed it because I had delayed surgery for so long that I had seriously degraded my left shoulder and arm. All that is back to normal now. Good luck with the surgery. P.S. I'm an American so can't tell you what to expect with Canadian medicine :-)

JW,

I had ACDF surgery last Monday, July 8, 2013, surgery went well and recovery has been fairly easy except for my throat. I find it difficult to swallow, I take small sips but I find that I tense up. Have you experienced this? My neurosurgeon said i would complain more of my throat than anything and that is the case. I was just wondering if anyone else had the same problem and how long it took for your throat to feel normal. Thanks for any information you can provide.

I had ACDF surgery on my c5/c6 last Tuesday (July 9, 2013). I had a donor bone graft, plate and screws installed. Per my doctor I am to wear a soft collar 24 hours a day for three weeks and can't drive during that period. I feel so much better than expected, I no longer have the tingling and numbness in my left arm and hand. The most pain I have had is in my left shoulder and when I swallow, exactly as my dr. predicted. I slept upright for 4 nights per my dr.'s instructions. I slept pretty good in bed last night. I am resting exactly as my dr. instructed but still moving around somewhat (fixing my lunch). Follow your dr.'s instructions and be patient!

Thank you, my Dr advised soft foods and I have only been able to tolerate mashed potato's and applesauce.  I thought yogurt, puddings, ice cream would be good but I have found that it created a lot of mucus, so I stopped eating any dairy last Wednesday and yet I still have mucus. Is this common? I don't remember her mentioning the mucus. What foods have you been able to tolerate. Best of Luck with your recovery.

jusr reading these posts and came across yours. i hope things are better for you now. I know it is a rough road in general, let alone not having support nearby. Hope all is well for you now, if not post and we will try and help :)

Today is 6 weeks post op.

Hi, I had surgery on c5/c6 and c6/c7 with cadaver bone and titanium on June 6.  The diagnosis had been cervical spondylosis(prob. spelled wrong).  Having to do with osteoarthritis. And an old injury can 'help things along' I recently turned 60  (ahhh, but told I look younger and feel like 25 inside!). Sorry, I needed that for myself - having a bit of a rough day today.  I had top of spine pain that just became worse since 2007.  Meloxicam helped for a while (I still take it for some arthritis in some other spots).   Then in the past year the nerve pain got worse and worse and was horrible.  I felt like screaming inside (but did not-that may have freaked people out at work, hee, hee).  

I finally went to a neurologist that was in a group of top docs in Houston (where I live) and had x-rays and MRI done. I had a lot of deterioration.

After surgery:  While in the hospital (one night), I felt immediate relief - of course!  I still had some anesthesia flowing through my veins, though no other pain meds. Later in the evening I had total muscle lock up-craziness and I gladly took a bit of morhone.

YES THE SORE THROAT IS A GIVEN.  It is completely normal and a drag. Pain lasted about a week.  The kind of 'lump in the throat' feeling, I still feel sometimes.  First 7 days after my surgery was difficult; a lot of pain.  But that's just me - TRULY, everyone is different.  

I work in an office. I tried to come back to work on June 25.  I lasted 2 days.  It was too early.  I called and went back to the doctor.  I told him how I felt - still some nerve pain; specially the back of my arms - the lifting motion of just working at desk/computer.  He had not given me any meds after the hospital.  He said the incision was healing nicely (that was the LEAST of any concern.  He told me everyone is different.  Doc gave me prescription for hydro-codiene/w/tylenol (basically Vicadon).  Well that sucked.  Just made me feel horribly tired and dragged out and downright depressed.  Took it once.  He also gave me a prescription for Methylprednisone 4 mg; but not take the packet as directed - just one per day for 10 days to help with inflamation.  That was helpful. He said heat on back of neck may help.  I find my heating pad does help.  May be ice pack for some / heat for some.  I have used both when I feel like it.

I stayed out of work about another week and a half.  Big difference.  I came back last Wednesday, when I had a final x-ray of my doctors' handiwork and he said every thing is in place nicely, gave me x-ray, his "gift to me" and sent me on my way. He said fusion usually begins in the 2nd month and can take up to a year.  I am now out of his care unless I have any questions.

A word of CAUTION -  It is really easy to OVER-DO things.  This is major surgery (as his very nice assistant had told me).  I'm sure I have over-done in the past 6 weeks.   One day about a week ago, I just felt really good so I raked a small patch of ground and picked of the mess and threw it away. Not a good idea.   One day I decided to gently use my squeege and clean my car windows since it had been sitting gathering dust; and decided to clean a few mirrors - gently.....wipe down the sinks, gently.....I THOUGHT!  The next day I could hardly lift my arms.   It's a challenge when I have  neck surgery and my loved one has a bad back.   I'm sure I've taken out the garbage too many times (even with a shopping cart we bought-I end up lifting the garbage for the dumpster).  

Week 5 and 6  - muscles locking/muscle spasms plague me.  My doc said this is normal too, if it happens.  He's been doing the surgery for over 25 yrs.  I was told to go to my regular doctor for anymore meds though.  I had taken some old Zanaflex from 2008 (yeah, we're bad - we keep old stuff).  There were only 2 left, 4 mg.  I took one ea. for two days.  It seemed to help some.  So my doctor gave me a prescripton.  (Lol, and she was happy to, especially since I had told her I have no use for hydrocodiene! Lol). And she suggested I see her in a month and she can evaluate if some PT would be helpful.

Despite the humor, today is kind of rough.  Muscles hurt a lot.  But then I am only taking the Zanaflex at night when I can take it up to 3x a day.  It does not help that I carry any tension/stress in my shoulders.   

Driving still stinks.  I wear the soft neck brace always when driving.  I do have some range of motion back, but I can't whip my neck around like we all do (I commute an hr to work) when driving.  It can be nervewracking and does not help muscles!).

I do not wear the neck brace much at home now except at night (I've tried with and without, doesn't matter; being comfortable in bed is a thing of the past right now; so I do wear the brace at night).

Yesterday, I stopped wearing the neck brace at work - it makes me crazy.  I do wear it walking the dog or walking outside and as a passenger in a vehicle.

My neck does some crazy 'crack' sounds from time to time.  Doc explains that as similar to people who crack their knuckles.   Ha, well I don't make it happen intentionally.  It is from time to time and can be with the slightest move of my head and it's loud. Perhaps it will go away when things start to fuse.  As a different sound - the back of my neck sounded like rice crispies in milk (literally!!) before the surgery and it still sounds like rice crispies in milk.

 

Well, I am long winded!  Sorry.  I just wanted to give a complete picture as possible.  Ultimately I do not have the excruciating nerve pain I had; mainly some in back of my arms from use all day - but it subsides when I get home from work.  I never lost use of arms or hands - just mainly shooting pain at times and total muscle weakness.    

And I do go on.....I hope this helps some for someone.

Hi all  I had ACDF on c5-c6 on 18th July 2013 and am one day short of two weeks post op.  My fusion was by using a cage which has been cemented in place with bone growing tissue and shavings of bone from my neck inside it, I have no plates or screws in place.  I can't seem to lie down and sleep at night because I can't get comfortable, the meds don't seem to be helping anymore (Gabapentin 300mg one three time daily, sometimes I take 2 at night just to be able to get some sleep).  It takes me ages to finally get to sleep and when I get up in morning my head feels too heavy for my neck and aches like mad.  How long will I be like this?  I was discharged from hospital the same day, which seemed far too early for me I wasn't even out of aneasetic properly.  My surgeon said the op would take 90 minutes to complete I was in surgery for over three hours.  I was not given any advice as what to do post op by my surgeon other than I will see him 6 weeks post op, no neck brace was given which to be honest I feel like I need one.  Will I ever get over this op, I have had a far worse surgery on my eyes a bi-lateral orbital decompression (hollowing my eye sockets out by going through the corner of my eyes and tear duct area) but even though I was in a lot of pain the meds helped and I felt normal two weeks post op even though I looked like I had had a fight with Mike Tyson and lost.  With this surgery I feel that it's taking a lot longer than this get over and worry that it won't get any better than this.  Any advice would be much appreciated

I am 4 weeks post surgery. I had head aches for 9 months straight, and burning right arm pain and down to my thumb and pointer finger. Just had c4/5 ACDF with plate. The second I woke up, no more pain.. Couple things that I did not expect. My calves must have cramped during surgery and they hurt like crazy, but I walked them out in a couple days. Also, neither my Surgeon or GP could predict, my neck muscles were very painful. I finally figured it out on my own. Your body is perfectly fit for you. Well part of the grafting process is to " over size" the inserted ( doner ) slightly thicker that the disc removed. This stretches the muscles ever so slightly, just enough to make it hurt. . The surgery it's self,,,, I had no pain from it what so ever. None. Im a 52 year ol guy, I visit the gym 5-7 times a week, cardio and lifting for the past 2 years religiously. Heavy on the arms, and upper body. I was lucky, I attacked this aggressively early on, as I wanted to minimize permanent damage. I went through the typical process, PT, pain meds, muscle relaxers, etc. Finally the MRI told the story. So far recovery has been a snap, No collar was used, minimum pain meds after discharge, im back at the gym, but taking it "easy". ROM,, great. Finally sleeping "normal" again.. Changes there too, I used to be a belly sleeper,,, the worst thing I could have done, as that twists everything all night. Now I sleep on my side with the correct thickness pillow. Good luck, hope my little spiel helps even just one person...

I had my surgery on August 30 and when I woke up no pain only from the surgery. I suffered from headaches for years and was told about the rupture disc in my neck about 5 yrs ago. But with no insurance I was done. Well finally was put on disability and the surgery was on. I feel great, the soreness in my throat was gone within 4 days. The site if my incision is sore but has healed well. The headaches are gone and I've done everything on a slow pace. I feel as though my surgery is a success!!! I had mt surgery in Seattle at Swedish Neuroscience Institute and had a wonderful surgeon. My neck is a little sore and I feel my range of motion is good but mt arm pain and headaches are gone. My next step is to get mt carpal tunnel fixed as my hands go numb when I sleep or from holding the phone for about 20 minutes! Google luck to all that are seeking information on this surgery just as I was a seeker and now pleased that I had it done.....

 

joy

I had c3/4, c5/6, and c6,7 done I was in a hard neck brace for 7 weeks and on a bone growth stimulator. I couldnt lift more than 5lbs for 6 weeks, also no housework or laundry or doing anything for atleast 6 weeks. I had to sleep in a recliner at night for 2 weeks. I hope this helps

Hello, I am going in for a fusion of C4, C5 and C6 next week and I am not sure of how to plan my grocery list for next week. Will I need to stick to softer foods such as soups, pudding, and jello or will I be able to eat regular food? I really do not know what to expect with the whole sore throat thing. And also what about coffee and cokes? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

I had C6C7 replacement surgery on 28th October this year. I had a bulging disc which was found in Feb 2009. I didn't have the op that was offered to me through fear, however 4 years later lost feeling in both legs and was slowly getting paralyzed from breast bone down. I went back to my NS in Brisbane Australia and she was great. She did operation and yes i have loads of pain but damage had already occurred on my spinal cord which could not be rectified. The op was to ensure I didn't get worse as the disc was pushing my spinal cord into the canal cutting off cerebral fluid to rest of my spine. I guess what I am saying is that if your NS suggests surgery just do it as symptoms can get worse and become permanent.

Rosemarie

I was very fortunate in that the bruising to the esophagus was minimal, and I was able to resume a pretty normal diet within a day or two.