KickinIt

Hi All,

First, I want to thank you all for making sure that there is a dialog out there for people looking to get Neck Surgery. Second, I am dissappointed that there is so much negative information on this site. My surgical results were positive and I am looking forward to doing things I have had to give up due to my neck injury.

I originally injured my neck when I was 16 and it's flared up 3/4 times/year since then. I am extremely athletic, so a flare would mean a total stop to what I love to do for a couple months. I also had Ulcerative Colitis for the past 9 years. I took steriods (prednisone) for 6 years to combat the UC. Prednisone is a systemic anti-inflamatorry, so it kept my neck in check, at least until I tried to wean off. Anyway, I had surgery for the UC this June and it went very well, even though it involved 2 surgeries, a total colectomy, a temporary colostomy and then a long recovery period.

Well, no longer taking the prednisone, my neck started to act up and wasn't going to get better on its own. 4 opinions all pointed to 2-level (5/6, 6/7) fusion due to stenosis and radiating arm pain. I made the decision quickly and had surgery on 11/5. While no wallk in the park, it also isn't intestinal surgery. I had ACDF with plating. Due to nausea I stayed overnight and went home the next day with a soft collar (to be warn when up and about for 6 weeks). I was back at the office full time on 11/15 and actually felt good since I was off the pain killers (except one at night).

A couple days ago I did my first workout, on a recumbnant bicycle, and it felt wonderful. This was the first time I've been able to watch the tvs (always so high up in the gym) without arm pain due to my neck!!

So in short, I think it's probably true what they say, people who have a good experience never return to these boards, while those who have bad ones do. This causes a scary site for a newbie to come to.

For my UC I heavily used the www.j-pouch.com site and was very happy with it since there were some "permanent" members with clinical background who kept the conversations balanced.

This is why I thought I should do this post, it's important that newbies see that people do have success with these surgeries.

Best Luck,
Mark