Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion (ACDF) recovery

your not a loon, and if you are having the pain i am having ,something is wrong...thay kept telling me it was healin ok to.and i didnt fuse at one of the levels which has left pain in back of my neck headaches.heavy head and shoulders you cant touch..arms that go to sleep at night..so dont give up and make them look for the problem.. good luck

please dont push yourself to much i listened to doctor and still didnt heal so take care and good luck......

I know it is hard to listen to docs,but it is important my right arm was the one before surgery and had gotten better for a while .i pushed laundry around the house in wheelcair i,my throat is not right to this day get choked alot not sore now though but was for about 2 months.have weakness in kneck and both shoulders now left arm goes numb somenites both...on lots of pain mes and did not fues at c5,6 i knew something was wrong i am miserable.gtg arms hurting......good luck

hello my name is Nick ,42 years old live in Toronto,had C6C7 anterior fusion with bone graft and plate six weeks ago,had sex 4 days later and felt alot of pain for about 4 weeks, i thought to myself im never going to recover , 6 weeks in and i feel awesome and strong even better then before the surgery ,so there is hope and stay positive cause in the end everything does work out..Enjoy and live a happy healthy life.. all the best to you

I'm having fusion on c3/4 and c4/5 with bone graft  on Mar 1, 2012 and very worried about the recovery time.  I can only take off 12 days of work and although the surgeon wants me to take 4-6 weeks he said he will let me go back in 2 weeks if I do well.  I've had lower back and neck pain for over 12 years but now my right shoulder, arm and hand has pins and needle pain and goes numb.  I type on my job and it is a sit down most of the time.  I already know I won't be able to lift but worried I won't feel good enough to work after 2 weeks.  The surgeon says I won't have a collar at all and that's not what I have been reading here.  How did you do after surgery? 

Thanks,

Hey robann!
I will be six weeks post op tomorrow and I'm now back to running/walking 4.5 miles or so a day. It was hot today so it was a more difficult task but whenever I feel like my neck or back is starting to tighten up I stop and walk. Anywhooo I have had a REALLY good recovery in my opinion. At 3 weeks you can read up there I was trying to run and play tennis. Unfortunately I paid for that for about four days and spent a lot of time recouping. It was too much too soon but I don't think it was any one activity I believe it was everything...including three children...pick up from two different schools, kids sports, tutors etc combined with regular household stuff and I wasn't doing laundry. I doubt you'll be able to go back full time at 2 weeks. I think you'll feel well enough to go for part of the day at 2 weeks but I definitely was still needing to rest in the afternoons - basically just sitting in a chair or my bed with pillows and leaning my head back taking all the pressure off my neck for a little while. I had pain in my shoulders mostly...I think they may be over compensating for the neck area??? I highly recommend the surgery IF you are having numbness and tingling in your arm. I would DEFINITELY make sure you are using an experienced NeuroSurgeon and not an Orthopedic Surgeon b/c they are so close to your spine. I only had one level fused and you are having two levels so there might be some difference there. I do have a spot on my left side now that feels a tad "pinched"...I'm hoping it's just residual swelling pressing on that left side nerve and not anything else. All post op X-rays have been fine and rest or not that "pinched" feeling on the left side has been there since about 3 weeks post op. It's completely fine as long as it's not herniated at another level. But I think only an MRI would tell that for sure. Last point...I am very active and I'm doing a lot but I'm still finding it good to put my feet up and leaning my head back every afternoon for a bit. Maybe you could start back slowly and only half days or something??? Just a thought but I'd be prepared for the worst and then if you're pleasantly surprised that'd be GREAT!!! I was a tad disappointed when things didn't go as I had planned after I posted that 3 week comment. I just did too much. It's NOT worth it - trust me. Good luck!!! Keep us posted!
Readytorun

I had ACDF for C5-7 on 2-2-12, I was out of the Hospital the next day, on pain killers (Norco) and muscle relaxers (Flexerol). Don't really know where the next 2 weeks went to although my wife tells me I was doing quite well. My only issue was coming off the NORCO's, the doc didn't tell me not to stop them cold turkey and I went through maximum withdrawal and severe anxiety. My wife was there to talk me off the ledge, thank God. So far, 3 weeks after surgery, I'm doing quite well. Sleeeping as I have through it all, in my own bed with a couple of pillows. I still do have soem discomfort in my neck area although I am not sure if I'm just babying it and over-compensating. Quite happy with the reuslt so far. The day after the surgery the numbness and tingling in my left had was gone.

Thanks for the info. The surgeon said 4 - 6 wks off work. I was just hoping to go back in 2 weeks cause of my pay. Anyway, how was the pain at your hip. They are taking bone marrow out of my hip to put in my disc and I heard that was painful. I also have bad back so I really don't need extra pain. I will take it easy and recover so I can get back to work. Glad to hear you are doing well.

your post is the best I have read, trying to keep people positive through this, I had the surgery last week and feel there is no hope, your sister sounds to be very supportive.

Just a quick note to say that my experience so far has been very much like Sharonbog's.

I had a disc herniation at C6/C7 with bonespurs that were protruding into the spinal column (from the MRIs) and some reduction in the size of the "tunnels" that piped the nerves to hands--I was losing strength in my hands and arms and may have had some lower body issues as well.

I had my surgery done in Adelaide, Australia (I'm a US National living in central Australia). I was hospitalized for 3 days post-op, but was up and walking the day after. My pain has been minimal, and I haven't taken anything but Tylenol since the evening of the day after the surgery.

I have very nearly the same range of motion as the day before the surgery, modulo some stiffness and pulling of the entry point.

The numbness is mostly gone from my hands and I can feel them working better than before the surgery, but that may just be wishful thinking.

I had my surgery on Mar. 1 and it's now the 10th. Of course the first few days were pretty bad as far as pain, but it gets better every day. I slept sitting up for about 7 days propped up by pillows in bed. Of course it wasn't good sleep up about every hour but now I can lay on my side and have slept pretty good the last 2 days. My throat was really sore at first and I'm still on soft food. The worse pain is in my neck and shoulders. I've been taking it easy and have been moving my head from day 1, just a little but the more I move it the better it gets. I am taking 6 weeks off work after all. I had help for about 5 days after the surgery but since Tuesday I been on my own and am doing fine. The numbness in my right arm is gone. Although I do notice that after i sleep my arm goes to sleep , but i think thats from the swelling and it's hard to move at night so I'm in one position. Thanks to everyone who answered you really helped.

Hey Robann,

I had an anterior C5-C6 fusion and diskectomy with nerve compression done in June of 2011. I had excruciating left arm pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness, as well as severe neck and upper back pain. The surgery completely healed the left arm symptoms, but I am still having neck spasms. My range of motion is pretty good, and I was able to start driving comfortably about 2 months after the surgery. I do medical transcription for a living, so sitting for 8 hours and typing really takes a toll on my neck, but overall I am doing VERY WELL. I only take 3 Tylenol tablets (650 milligrams) per day and an occasional Zanaflex for muscle spasm. The surgery was definitely the right thing for me to do, and I am glad I did it. I hope this helps others who are questioning whether they made the right decision.

Cindy, Louisville, KY

   I had a slip and fall injury at work in Oct. 2003. I was required by law to report it as Workman's Comp. The drama started when very few doctors would accept Workman's Comp (W/C). I started with chiropractic care. W/C stopped that after about 2 years. Mind you, I continued working 40 hours a week + overtime. Then W/C said see a regular doctor.  One doctor retired, another went to prison for fraud and I ended up with a doctor 85 miles away. He put me on Vicoden, 375 mg 2 times a day. Because of the job, I took 1/2 of a Vicoden at work and a full one at home. Still worked fulltime +. The doctor sent me to a neurosurgeon. He recommended a c5-c6 ACDF. He said a disc was pinching my spinal cord. Surgery or become a quaduapaligic in a year. What a choice. Had the surgery in March 2006. Within 2 weeks, I got pain in my shoulders, shooting pain, numbness, headaches and host of other problems. I never had these pains before. NS said the surgery was fine and the pain was temporary. I was forced to retire because of the fusion.

    I have since had 3 surgeries to my shoulders for the pain, spasms and headaches. I have been to ortho and neuro doctors in 2 states. I am one 3000 mg of Vicoden, 1050 mg Soma and 10 mg Valium a day now. I also am on a heating pad and a TENS unit. I am a medicated couch potato now.

   The doctors cannot figure out why it turned out this way. Several have said that this surgery done under W/C has a 80% failure rate, while the same surgery done under regular insurance has a 90% success rate. I know 5 people at my work who had the same surgery, by the same surgeon, under regular insurance and they are still working fulltime. (We lived in a remote area, so NS docs are few and far between. The ortho doctor was 6 1/2 hours away, the closest one that would accept W/C) So there must be some truth to the stats.

  Even with the meds, I have a constant headache at a level of 5, increasing when I drive or move my neck too much, both shoulders are a constant 7-8 pain level. If I do something simple like wash a car, the pain increases. It takes a few days to return to a 7.

  Has anyone else gone backwards like this? Anyone know if anything can be done?

I am only 5 weeks post op and when I read your symtoms and pain levels it sounded just like me. I am told that I am impatient and my body needs to heal more, I have reduced my pain meds though so I am ahead there but I definatley know what your talking about when you say the pain level increases with activity, it is very depressing. I have found that stretching, walking and a ball to sit on really helps. I go back to the neurosurgeon in a couple of weeks so we'll see how I will feel then.