Re: Cervical stenosis

In Reply to: Cervical stenosis posted by gretchen on May 17, 2000 at 11:57:20:

: I am 43 and was just diagnosed with cervical stenosis and disc degeneration in the c4-c5 area. One doctor told me to get use to taking alot of motrin and stronger if the pain gets too bad and that is will only get worse. He won;t sign me back to work.I have worked at a major Calif. grocery chain for 16 years. I am not sure what pain is worse, the neck and shoulders or not being able to retire from the grocery chain. I am going for a second opinion and then a third on the 30th. For those of you that have had the surgery,do you feel it was worth it, and how much mobility do you have now? I would like to think that if I have the surgery, that I will someday return to my scanning, bookkeeping, and training. I am acared to death and I still have an active 11 year to raise.

I am 57 and had the surgery for spinal stenosis at levels c4-c5, c5-c6, and c6-c7 on Sept 2, 1999. It was done on an out-patient baisis but the surgeon kept me overnight for observation. I had the surgery on Friday and went back to work the following Tuesday and was sore for a couple of weeks. All the symptoms disappeared except for some numbess and tingling in my left thumb that was aggravated when I bent my head back. About a month ago I had another MRI and found that the I still had a "moderate" stenosis at C6-c7. For me the surgery was definitely worth it though, just tell the surgeon to make sure he removes enough.