HELP Posterior Cervical need advice - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

Janatee · 04-07-2009, 01:27 PM

Hello All.. I'm not new to this board, but I need help! Last year I had ACDF, and it was a long recovery for me. Long story short, I will be getting another Cervical operation soon. This time they are going in the back of the neck, and doc has told me, this will be a more painful recovery... I will be back in my Aspen Collar for at least 6 weeks. Also will have rods and screws. I do have plates, screws and a cage in the front..
SO... I need to know if anyone out there, has been through this and how did you do, and what do I need to know on the recovery end of this? Doc said sometimes since going into the back and touching and moving the muscles, this can feel like bad charlie horses in the neck... He did tell me they will have me on meds to ease the pain...
Please, anyone with info on your recovery, would love to hear from you. What they found on the MRI, is what is causing my legs not to work correctly. If I do not get this done soon, I will end up in a wheel chair! I will not give up, I need to get my life back to some type of normal... Would love to hear from you soon... Thank you all. Janatee

jennybyc · 04-07-2009, 03:10 PM

I have had 2 posterior cervical spine surgeries and it is VERY different from front entry. First off, they have cut a lot of muscles to get to where they need to be so it takes longer to recover and is more painful. It sounds like they are going to use the Vertex system of titanium rods and screws to fuse you from the back in combination with laminectomies to open the spinal canal. I had a laminoplasty first where they drill out and replace the bones to enlarge the canal but it collapsed less than 3 months after surgery(a new world record apparently) and they had to do an emergency fusion. So in less than 3 months I had this done twice!

So I am now fused from C3 to T1 and may be looking at a 3rd surgery. I was doing so well I started back doing aerobics and herniated the only disk left.....between C2 and C3. I find out June 3rd if he's going to extend the fusion.

So expect pain but they'll give you lots of meds for pain and muscle spasms. As the muscles heal they spasm and they also spasm due to not being used. PT can help with massage and electric stimulation of the muscles. The neck brace is actually nice as it's really hard to hold your head up with all the muscles cut. You'll find it hard to take off after 6 weeks. Takes time to build muscle strength again.

It sounds like they didn't explain too much to you but it certainly sounds like you have spinal cord compression either from your herniated disks or spinal stenosis or cervical spondylosis. I have cervical spondylosis and my first symptoms were numbness in my toes and stiffness in my legs. I was talking baby steps because I couldn't move them forward. At times I walked like a drunk with my feet far apart because I was off balance. The pressure on my cord was slowly but surely making me paralyzed from the waist down(hands and wrists too). Had I not had the surgery, I'd be a wheelchair by now. I'm not. I was just stupid! It's been 2 years and I didn't even think of my neck just that I needed some exercise and hurt myself again.

If you have any questions, just ask. I'm glad you are getting this fixed before the paralysis sets in. I had over a year of PT to get everything back after my surgery.

gentle hugs............Jenny

Janatee · 04-07-2009, 03:32 PM

Jennybyc, Thank you so much for your reply and all the info. I know this will not be an easy fix, or recovery. But, I feel I would rather take the pain and the long heal, then the wheelchair. With all my hardware that I have now in my neck, I have limited range of movement. I can only turn so far to my right, and left. So I have learned to adjust my movements. I know with all the hardware you have, with the rods and such, how is your range? Has it gotten less, or did it stay the same? If you feel like shouting back sometime, I would like to know. Thank you once again for your quick reply. I have always found such reassurance and good information from all of the good people who write on this board. I know we are all together some how here. Take care, and be kind to your body. Janatee

jennybyc · 04-08-2009, 01:48 PM

On range of motion, I'm pretty good on the right. Can turn my head almost to the shoulder, can tilt halfway over to the shoulder and tip my head to the back and chin about half way. My left side is another whole matter. It was less than the right but not that bad until I herniated the disk at C2-3 and now it is absolutely stuck when I try to tilt to the left. My turning is halfway to shoulder. But I know prior to this injury it was pretty close to the right.

So if you are going all the way up to C3, expect to lose about half of your ROM or slightly better. I can still drive and do just about everything I did before. I just can't look back over my shoulder for anything!.

The other strange thing about a long fusion is loss of balance. Your head acts like a gyroscope with your inner ear for balance and when you can't get those fine movements of your head, it takes a while to get your balance back. I just practiced walking on uneven ground until I felt more able to keep my balance and all was well until the latest injury. So be prepared for a balance problem.

And my biggest complaint?????? Because they went so high my hair was shaved halfway up the back of my head and then they taped the rest out of the way. You'd think they'd remove the tape after surgery while still out....but no...not with a male surgeon. They pulled it off several days later. Hurt like a son of a b$%^&. I begged them to just cut the hair...no the nurse had to "gently" pull it off. Gentle my a##! Hurt more than the surgery.

Oh...and the left side of your scar will be numb for about at least an inch+ to the left. And it itches and you can't scratch it away..it's numb. So make sure you have a good back scratcher around because you need to scratch all around it to get relief. Ice helps too.

So there are all sorts of little things that those rear entry surgeries have that are very different from the front. Ask away.

gentle hugs.........Jenny

Janatee · 04-08-2009, 04:01 PM

jennybyc, Thanks again for all the info. I know what I will have to do, and I just have to keep my mind focused and have the great will to heal. Let me tell you, this all started back in 1991, when I FELL OUT of the tub!!!

I was all soaped up, and started to slip backwards, (no mat) stupid I know. Then I fell on the rim of the tub, hard... I thought thank you God, but since I was all soap, I slipped backwards off the rim, and landed with my neck and head facing one way, and my torso twisted the other way, with my legs hanging over the tub... Nice picture! Sore and bruised, but nothing else, I continued to work and do what ever... Then I started walking each afternoon, and started to stumble with my left foot. This was now 1997. It got worse, and of course I thought oh no, MS... Had all the test, that was ruled out, then has PT and traction, and that helped me to walk better. Later, in 2003 I had the Decompressive Lumbar Laminectomy... to open up the spinal canal, because of Spinal Stenosis. That really helped a lot. I could walk with out the feeling of my groin grinding.. I had no hardware there, just a pie shape cut in the disc. Then as time went on, I got worse. The legs did not want to move right. Weak, stiff, spasms, on and on. Even to the point this time of my 2 toes on the left foot , curling up when I would bend... So then is was the ACDF, and now this new baby... I tell everyone I know, PLEASE, USE A BATH MAT. Do not take a chance..My hair is short, but I'm with you, cut the hair, I don't need the tape pulling, after what I will be going through. I sure hope all works out for you in June. I hope you will keep me informed, and I sure will let you know when I go, and how things are going. Hang in there, I guess this is all we can do. Not to mention to keep the faith... Thank you again... Janatee