neck/back surgery

[fishy68]

I had C4/5 and C5/6 fused in my neck. My right arm was going dead (pressure on the nerve) Got to the point where it was not strong enough to lift 5 pounds.

I was fine one day...... Got up one morning, yawned and stretched, then bang... Felt like I pulled a muscle in my neck and shoulder.

Herniated discs, bone spurs, you name it, I had it. After reading the MRI report the doctor asked "What did you do?"

Then she told me....... "You need a new neck."



Long story short......... Had surgery about 3 weeks after my diagnosis. It immediately fixed everything.

I was off work about 3 months because of lifting, pushing and pulling restrictions. (but this will depend on the kind of work you do, if your job is less physically demanding you could be back to work in weeks.)

I'm down to being able to barely lift 20 lbs. Used to be able to lift 250 lbs. no problem. Glad to hear they got you working much better. Right now I'm not working (got fired from my job of 11 yrs. because of being late too many times due to migraines) so I have plenty of time to recuperate.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

I'm down to being able to barely lift 20 lbs. Used to be able to lift 250 lbs. no problem. Glad to hear they got you working much better. Right now I'm not working (got fired from my job of 11 yrs. because of being late too many times due to migraines) so I have plenty of time to recuperate.

I am sorry to hear you lost your job. I am limited to picking up less than 5 lbs

 

[fishy68]

Good luck with your surgery Tracy,couldn,t imagine the headaches ontop of the pain.Hope all goes well as I have a bad back also(4 h.disc,4 pinched nerves in my lumbar area)I,m waiting to see a speacialist in October.Let us know how you make out after the surgery.

Thanks Scott. I remember you mentioning you have back trouble too. don't put it off too long or you can do nerve damage. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Go to a different doctor. The type of surgery that fuses your spine is a temporary fix at best, and leads to future debilitating problems at worst. As it puts more stress on the surrounding vertebrae.

If you must have neck or back surgery get the kind of surgery that replaces your natural disc with a synthetic one. This preserves some, though not all the movement in the neck and or back, this helps prevent the other joints from atrophying.

The surgery is relatively new, it is called cervical artificial disc replacement.

I am not a doctor and do not consider this medical advise, as always, your mileage may vary.

Best of Luck,

Regards,

Joe Dokes

I do plan on getting a 2nd opinion. I have also heard fusion isn't the best way but the doc I saw showed me statistics that say it actually lasts longer than cervical disc replacement. I plan on researching the statistics myself also.

I had L3-4-5 and S1 fused and the doc told me at the time that this would reduce my pain but there was not fix to my back. I still take two vicodin every night and sometime take two early in the day for pain. Last cruise localy was last night and I did not go due to back pain but doctor told me this is what I would get. I would ask the doctor what to expect from your operation he will give you stats for your type of operation. I'm still better off now than befor my operation and in less pain but mine was lower back and yours is neck I hope things work out for you.

I think lower backs are more troublesome since anytime you are up you are putting pressure on them, unlike the neck. I know what it's like to miss an event due to pain. Sure stinks. I did ask the doc and he said it would relieve the pain (unless I over did it) but also said the numbness may not all go away. I can live with numbness. Pain is much harder to tolerate.

 

[fishy68]

They have had a bunch of problems with the artificial discs so each individual should do the research and make their own choice.

I would not use them if I had an issue today, but I had my neck done 10+ years ago.

I have heard that also. Seems no matter what method you talk about someone has had bad luck with it. Gonna research it more.

My story is similar but different. Took a bad fall off my new porch and whacked my head on concrete. neck and head hurt like h and my left arm also. It turns out the bones in my neck, which have been bothering me quite a while, had severe arthritus and the fall caused some nerve damage so my left thumb and forefinger were numb. The doc replaced 3 neck bones and screwed them together with a plate and 6 screws. Shoulda done it years ago. Neck is fine now but sometimes it clicks and hurts, guess the other bones are having to take up the movement and they are unhappy.

But the nerve damage is still there and the left arm is still evaporating away. Must be something else wrong. Then again I can still ride the dirt bike and drive the tractor and the rod so all is not lost.

I was back at work the next week - it was amazing how fast that recovered. The scar was the worst part and it is now almost invisible. Been a year. Do not be scared about that neck operatipon. Not sure about a back though.

Be careful about who you let do the operation. My surgeon had his neck done and the guy who trained him did the work. Used the wrong sizebones and it had to be re-done. Different guy did the rework.

Wow! You really got busted up. I do plan on researching it a lot. this is just my first stop on research.

My brother in law had some stuff fused in his back. Said it was the worst mistake he ever made. Now he has some limited motion when bending and it didn't help with the pain. I'm sur everybody's different, but that's his story.

Was his lower or upper back? Sorry to hear it didn't help him.

i had my c5-6 &c6-7 fused together and i got headachce because of the fusion i would not go throught it again if had it to do again i would not

Hummm... since I already have several cluster and migraines each month I'm not sure mine would be worse, but you never know. In my research that's one thing I'll look at, the possibility of worse headaches.

 

[fishy68]

Do what Joe Dokes said keep looking for a different doc. They use synthetic spacers now and clean up the spurs. Great results and full mobility. 47 is too young don't fuse anything. Have you tried specific drug therapy for the migrains instead of the Vicodin. Several new drugs out for headaches that'll work better to get you by until they fix your neck. Dan

I've tried nearly every medicine known to man. It took several before they found one that didn't seem to have a worse side effect and actually helps. Got the clusters and migraines down to 4-5 per month and not as intense. I'm not thrilled at all about fusion but I've already lost over half of my mobility (this has been ongoing for over 6 yrs.) so I can't imagine fusing 1 disc would make me stiffer. The doctor said it wouldn't. So far what I've found out about him is he is the #1 rated spine specialist in this area.

Reader's digest version - I damaged my C4-5-6, T1-2 and L4-5-6...the Cs were pressing on my spinal chord in different directions..lost fluid around them and had really bad pain...had to go on Methadone...neurosurgeon wanted to operate NOW..said I was a walking time bomb to be a quad...went to an ostiopath...a little over a year later back to the neurosurgeon and he said an operation was not necessary..he didn't know what I did but said keep doing it. I am not off Methadone...I still suffer pain..@ a 2 ..and I hurt if I do something stupid ...I read that for a man over 50 who had an operation on his Cs, he cannot empty the dishwasher for 6 months due to the possibility of hurting himself...I also read about a guy who bones crackle when he turns his head..

For me..I try to stay away from anything invasive like surgery and am willing to try alternate medicines..

Second opinions are not only good but necessary.

Good luck
Ian.

What is a Osteopath? Heard of them but not sure exactly what they do. As I just stated above I have tried nearly every medicine made that could affect it.

In 1979 at the age of 29, I was hit by friendly fire. I was hit by 1500 lbs that amongst other things it fused C4,C5 and part of C6. my spine of course is not straight and as I get older it gets worse. My migraine headaches have over the years increased and has the nerve damage to different areas of my body. Example, the use of my right arm specifically my right hand is now about 30%. Because of the amount and type of damage I have been told surgery cannot be attempted. Unfortunately for me because of the ever growing "S" of my backbone because of the original impact the nerves that come out of the vert. become pinched and damaged. This continues to get ever worse every year. If you could get surgery that not only could repair your injury but also prevent the misshape of your spine which would protect those nerves that is something to seriously consider.

I merely am explaining my injury to you to perhaps give you some information to make a good decision. I have no regrets as to what happened to me and I would not change a thing in my life in uniform for anything.

Wow! Thank you for your service and I'm sure sorry to hear that happened. I've tried every form of exercise, physical therapy, and medicine so I am at the point where it looks like surgery is my only option. since some nerve damage has already been done I'm considering surgery more and more before any more nerves get damages.

 

[fishy68]

I was in a ski accident in 1969 when i was 21. 6 months later they operated on me. Back then they didn't know much about backs. It helped some but i injured it again at work in 1980. I worked for the mi dnr and they wouldn't let me go back to without a dr approval.
I found a young dr that said after he operated he would sign my back to work papers. He burchered me and i couldn't walk over a few feet for 2 yrs. No dr would touch me until i found dr
easton at troy belmont in troy,mi. In1999. He put rods and fusion and i was much better until this spring. I have spent most of this summer in terriable pain and not being able to do anything. I went to a healing service a couple of weeks ago and have been doing much better. God still heals.
You might want to check out dr easton. He was good 12 yrs ago
and he has has a lot more experience since then. If you pm me i will give you his ph #. I will be praying for you and i am sure that others on this site will also.
Stan

Wow that's young to have something that bad happen and your right they just didn't know much about it then. Sorry to hear you had to suffer so long. Glad to hear the fellow in Troy helped but sorry to hear it returned. Do you think you did anything that caused it to return? I am a deacon in church and have been prayed for several times. I also believe God can do anything and appreciate prayers. It's all in his timing.

First off what kind of shape are you in? I ask because my father in law had neck surgery and ten days later died of a blood clot in his lung. He was overweight big time and exercise wasn't a part of his life. Be careful man and wear the compression devices if they give you them.

Not too bad shape, considering. I've lost 22 lbs. since Feb. when they told me I have Diabetes. I was 5'8" @ 170 lbs. and could press 250 before the back problem happened. I'm now 5'7" @ 183 lbs. and can't lift much at all without unbearable pain. I will definitely follow his instructions.

 

[nuttyprof]

I had l5 damaged (lamina broken off and vertebra shifted forward 3/4 inch) in an accident but waited 23 years to have anything done, ended up with nerve damage, and had l5-s1 fused with lamina removed from l5. went from 8-9 on 0-10 pain scale to 4-5, should have had it done years earlier so I'd have less nerve problems, but it was the best thing for me. God bless your outcome!

 

[fishy68]

I had two discs removed and fused 5-6. The one above and below is in bad shape also. The doctor talked me into using a cadaver bone instead of a piece of my hip, I'm glad that I did that. I was also having headaches, arm pain and numbness in my fingers, I let it go to long and I got purment damage. I was scared to death to get it done. There is a lot of risk in having it done. I went and talk to two different doctors and I' glad I did. Anyway I finely had it done, had the operatin one day and went home the next. Seven days later I went back and he let me take the neck brace off and a total of seven weeks later I went back to work. It is so much better but I know that there are a lot of things that I can't do and if I do I pay the price. I hope you all the best of luck. Make sure that you do talk to another Doctor before you get it done. I will post a picture of my neck after the operation.

Jim

I've heard of doing it with a cadaver bone. Some also use a synthetic material. I'm scared too because of the risks but I'm in so much agonizing pain I think I will get it done, one method or another. That'll be determined after I finish my researching it.

Tracy, no matter what you decide we hope the best for you.

Sue had her L4L5 fused last year and her SI fused this year

She has not recovered well from the latest and now is showing signs of problem below L5

About 4 years ago another doc was to have removed some spur in L4L5 area but instead removed the bone completely (Butcher) the last doc did both L4L5 fusion and SI. he is highly recommended in back surgeries.

Each person responds differently. Sue having Parkinson and her age is part of the slow recovery

Good Luck

Thanks Larry. Man that stinks that guy butchered her. You hear that so often. That's why I'm checking into this as much as possible. I don't remember you mentioning Sue has Parkinson's. My Grandma had Parkinson's. Sure does make life rough.

 

[fishy68]

Nah No worries I am happy to be here. Thanks

Glad to hear your outlook. You just can't let it get you down.

I am sorry to hear you lost your job. I am limited to picking up less than 5 lbs

Thanks. I might have lost a good job but it cost them in the end. A couple customers I serviced dropped them when they heard how they did me.

 

[fishy68]

I had l5 damaged (lamina broken off and vertebra shifted forward 3/4 inch) in an accident but waited 23 years to have anything done, ended up with nerve damage, and had l5-s1 fused with lamina removed from l5. went from 8-9 on 0-10 pain scale to 4-5, should have had it done years earlier so I'd have less nerve problems, but it was the best thing for me. God bless your outcome!

Not only am I tired of putting up with debilitating pain but I'm afraid of doing more nerve damage by putting it off longer. That's great it took the pain away.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

Glad to hear your outlook. You just can't let it get you down.



Thanks. I might have lost a good job but it cost them in the end. A couple customers I serviced dropped them when they heard how they did me.

The rehab in Tulsa said they had programs that can help me go to work. Guess what the first thing I do in Oct.

 

[fishy68]

Thanks for all the comments, suggestions, well wishes, and prayers. I truly appreciate it. I'm not going into this thing uninformed. Just to risky to take one mans word for it.

Tracy

 

[fishy68]

The rehab in Tulsa said they had programs that can help me go to work. Guess what the first thing I do in Oct.

I wish you the best Cliff. Our prayers will be with you to get back to a normal life.

 

[Old Tired Rebel]

I wish you the best Cliff. Our prayers will be with you to get back to a normal life.

Thank you and I will continue prayers for you.

 

[inkjunkie]

You got fired because of your headaches? How long have you had them? If it has been over a year you might have certain "rights" under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). All employees of any company are covered by it. Even if you have not had the headaches for a year if your Doc thinks they will last more than a year you may still be covered....

 

[fishy68]

You got fired because of your headaches? How long have you had them? If it has been over a year you might have certain "rights" under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). All employees of any company are covered by it. Even if you have not had the headaches for a year if your Doc thinks they will last more than a year you may still be covered....

The migraines/cluster headaches started in late 99 but I only got one every 2-3 months then so it wasn't a big deal. In early 05 the headaches went crazy. 10-12 per month. Thought I was gonna go out of my mind. Work had a disability plan that specified if I could no longer do my job ( the back issue and 10-12 migraines per month pretty well cinched that) I could go on their disability plan either for the rest of my life or until the issue was resolved. As soon as I got signed up they fired me. Not sure if they thought they would get out of paying me or what? Didn't work if that's what they thought.

 

[rrvolare]

GET it done.... use a cadaver bone ( i hope i spelled it correctly )... I had C6/C7 done in 2003... YES you will still have minimal pain once and awhile after you do it... depending on what you do... just be caucious ...
The longer you wait ... the more nerve damage is done ... The worst part about the surgery is recovery ... NO pain .. but the collar you need to wear for 3 months ... can't sleep comfortably !!!!!! and then when you take collar off .. you will have to go in a soft collar and then therapy ... NO neck muscles to hold up head .... BUT again don't wait longer ... Research a find a Excellent surgeon !
As you get older you will hear crunching/grinding/popping in your neck when turning it . stretching it etc..... tendons/scart tissue ..... nothing to worry about .

 

[oneway71]

I had a fusion C5 C6 in 2005 and I came out worse than I was before. No relief of arm pain and my headaches did not clear up and actually got worse. Strength is still bad in the arm.

Would I do it again? No; but that is me. I have 2 friends that also had the surgery, one came out great and one even worse than me. Not all doctors are the same and results differ.

I wish you well in whatever choice you make and hope your pain goes away.

 

[fishy68]

GET it done.... use a cadaver bone ( i hope i spelled it correctly )... I had C6/C7 done in 2003... YES you will still have minimal pain once and awhile after you do it... depending on what you do... just be caucious ...
The longer you wait ... the more nerve damage is done ... The worst part about the surgery is recovery ... NO pain .. but the collar you need to wear for 3 months ... can't sleep comfortably !!!!!! and then when you take collar off .. you will have to go in a soft collar and then therapy ... NO neck muscles to hold up head .... BUT again don't wait longer ... Research a find a Excellent surgeon !
As you get older you will hear crunching/grinding/popping in your neck when turning it . stretching it etc..... tendons/scar tissue ..... nothing to worry about .

I do plan on getting something done ASAP. Been going too long like this. I've heard recovery is real uncomfortable but I haven't slept good the last few months anyway due to the never ending pain. Thanks for the input.

I had a fusion C5 C6 in 2005 and I came out worse than I was before. No relief of arm pain and my headaches did not clear up and actually got worse. Strength is still bad in the arm.

Would I do it again? No; but that is me. I have 2 friends that also had the surgery, one came out great and one even worse than me. Not all doctors are the same and results differ.

I wish you well in whatever choice you make and hope your pain goes away.

Wow man! That's a real bummer. Sorry to hear it made you worse. The more I look into it the more I find negative about fusion. It seems to work for some, as in your one friend, but others are worse. I can't imagine being worse. I barely get anything done now due to it. I wish you the best in finding some relief.

 

[mullinax95]

Good luck with your surgery Tracy

 

[fishy68]

Good luck with your surgery Tracy

Thanks Marland

 

[dart64gt]

The best thing for that is Neurostimulation Therapy it was one of the greatest thing I have every had. I have suffer with back and knee pain for over 20 years and they put one of those things in me for a trial and my pain was gone when I came out of surgery the only bad thing was it was a trial only now I am fighting with the insurance company to get it put in for good. It does not work for everbody but it is 98% for the most check with your Doctor.

 

[fishy68]

The best thing for that is Neurostimulation Therapy it was one of the greatest thing I have every had. I have suffer with back and knee pain for over 20 years and they put one of those things in me for a trial and my pain was gone when I came out of surgery the only bad thing was it was a trial only now I am fighting with the insurance company to get it put in for good. It does not work for everbody but it is 98% for the most check with your Doctor.

Is that what they call a Tens unit?

 

[bobscuda67]

I wish you a good outcome whatever your desision is. Good luck.

 

[fishy68]

Thanks Bob