Oh my goodness, I just had this done and it was the best thing I have ever done in my life. It's like a miracle. Yes there is post op pain but nothing like I had before in my hands, back and shoulders. No pain in my back at all. It's fantastic! Yes, the recovery is brutal and the neck brace drives you batty. The immobility is a pain but please! Don't not do this surgery if you are at risk of being a quadriplegic like I was. It really is worth the pain and discomfort and if you have a good attitude, that will get you through it.!
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My husband had cervical laminectomy in Jan. and is still not able to raise his arms. No one prepared us for this. We are told over and over again that it will be a long road but that he should make a full recovery. Please let me know if anyone has regain use of their arms after this surgery!
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I had laminectomy with instrumentation and bone grafts from C2-C5 perform on University Hospital 14 month ago. What your second doctor said is not true. Instrumentation and bone grafts keep spine stable. I do not have any problem.
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I am 63 and 14 month after laminectomy with bone grafts and instrumentation from C2-C5. I had compressed spine cord to 4.5mm because
of DISH and I was " walking bomb " too. My only problem is feeling heavy head during walking. I faith with my neck to keep it strait what causing a pain. Any idea how to get rid of that pain ?.
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Debbie, I've been putting mine off for years, I just turned 70 and my new ortho surgeon wants to do a cervical fusion laminectomy thru the back of my neck on the same ones as yours. Also, I have to have lumbar surgery also...sounds like you. Now that this post is older how is it going for you? Thanks!
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In 2005 I had spinal anterior fusion on c6-c7, 2nd surgery. 1996 fustion c5-c6. In 2005, my spinal cord was burised during surgery, Cervical Myleopathy. I have serious balance problems while walking. A spinal surgeon order an mri and cat scan. He wants to do a posterior laminectomy with fusion C4-c7 with a cage to stablize the spinal cord. I read this post and have hope that decompression of the nerves can improve my balance. If I could walk again without assistance, I would have my life back again. I am 69 yrs old, two spinal surgeons, top doctors are willing to operate.
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don't do it,go to pain management and physical therapy.I had it done 7 months ago and I havent recovered yet and i fill worse than before i had this surgery .Iam not able to go back to work yet as the doctors told me.And not even aprove for disability yet .
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I am 36 year old male and had posterior cervical laminectomy C3,C4,C5,C6 and I am 12 days post OP. 9 years previous I had ACDF C6/C7. The most pain I had was day 2 when my neck locked up and I couldn't put my arms down at all. The only thing that relieved the pain was holding my arms up close to my chest. This was mainly because they cut right through the neck and upper back muscles to get to the spine. Robaxin muscle relaxers really helped with the spasms and the loosening up of the muscles. I cannot feel anything around the insicsion site as it it numb, I guess they cut the nerves on the skin, but I am doing very well overall. I have already begun walking 1 to 1.5 miles a day. Mornings seem to feel the best and then it seems to get more uncomfortable as the day goes on. My recommendation is to rest and to not bend over at all, which can be hard being a parent of a 3 and a 1 year old. I was given instructions to be off of work for 1 month to heal since it was a 4 level cervical laminectomy. Please do as little as possible because overdoing it is not a good thing to do and measure your recovery in weeks and not days as some are better than others.
My pre surgery symptoms of bicep, forearm, and shoulder weakness as well as shocks on the elbow on the other arm seem to be gone but I will know for sure after I have fully healed
good luck
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Medical team was incredible.
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Miss 5 months of work .im still in pain. Mostly down my whole right side , neck is stiff can't move it . Pain in my arms , legs . Hip when I went to doc for first check up , I told him I have a bone or something coming through my neck , where my scar is , he said . You just had a Major surgery give it some time . Well as of today I can hardly walk , the Bone is sticking out so bad I can't even touch it now , it is so tender. It's even hard to drive now cause of all the stiffness , I'm on some strong pain meds now I'm afraid to drive , I'm afraid to hurt someone while I'm trying to drive. Please if anyone else is having this problem. Please reply so I can see if anyone else has this problem.
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Medical description ... "MRI & Myelogram (12/18/15) show “multilevel cervical degenerative changes, worst in the lower cervical spine.” Disc osteophyte complex, facet hypertrophy, moderate to severe central canal stenosis."
My symptoms before the operation were numbness in the fingers of the right hand and in my right forearm. I had lost strength in the fingers of my right hand .. about 50% when compared to my left.
He operated in the back of the neck rather than the front because of my age. Before the surgery, I told him that I didn't want to "come back in 5 years". He did not just operate on the two discs that were the major problem but on other ones that might become a problem.
The surgery went well since he is a superb spinal surgeon. No fusions ... just drilling out the excessive bone. (I told him before it "Dr. L ... please don't use the cheapest drills on sale at Home Depot". I was in the hospital one day after it and had to wear a collar for several weeks. I had some neck pain the first week due to the operation but only needed some pain medication for a few days.
I was told it would take six months to recover strength in my fingers ... but there were no guarantees. I knew at least that the problem would not get worse. .
My scar is about 2 inches long and healed very rapidly.
I have been using a finger strength test and have found I have recovered almost full strength in two fingers and significant gains of 20 - 50 % in the other 3 fingers after about 2 1/2 months.
I have used Dr. L for lower back spinal surgery a decade ago so we have a history of ribbing each other. Spinal surgery by its nature has great risks and is only done when absolutely needed. Make sure you check out a doctor's reputation with your family doctor or other medical people you know before you agree to an operation.
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