CTmom

I had C6-7 fusion almost two years ago. Not to scare you, but the recuperation for this is not a walk in the park. I was told not to lift anything greater than a milk jug for 4 weeks. (Couldn't because of muscle weakness in my arms after surgery anyway.) Could not drive for 2 weeks. And I did not wear a collar after surgery, which would have limited me even more. Furthermore, I did not feel like doing any of these things. Your body will need time to heal. Four days is nowhere near enough. Four weeks is more realistic and it was a full six months before I felt back to normal, activity-wise. You will need to get help caring for your son and will need to pamper yourself for awhile. If your husband really can't be there, try to find a neighbor, friend, etc... to at least take your son for the majority of the day and stop over to help out. Expect difficulty sleeping comfortably. Expect some strange new pains as the nerves begin to repair themselves. If you are on pain meds. you may not want to be solely responsible for your child anyway (They always make me really sleepy and I was afraid I'd fall asleep and they'd get hurt.) There are some great old threads on this board about ways to prepare yourself and your household for surgery, but please take it easy. Expect some painful muscle spasms if you try to overdo it (and possibly even if you don't). Also, recognize that you may never want risk lifting very heavy objects that may strain your back, as fusion places stress on adjacent discs and you don't want to have this surgery more than once if you can avoid it. Take a look at other posts on this board to get a good picture of what to expect and best of luck to you!