ACDF - 3 level

Hi Texas122 I don't know how I missed your post, I just happen to see your post on Specialagent thread and thought I would look and see if you had any other post! Anyway I want to just Welcome you to Healing Well Chronic Pain forum. I seen in your other post that you also have some swallowing problems from your surgery? Just wanted to let you know that when I had my first ACDF at C6/7 back in March of 1985, I lost my voice for over three months after my surgery and I had major swallowing problems. Since that time I have continued to have problems with an abnormal gag reflex and periodic swallowing difficulties. My voice came back, but was told it was a bit different.

Flash forward to 2009, the disc above my fusion went bad, and I went for my second ACDF at C5/6 in September of 2009. Before they would do the surgery, since I had so many problems with my first surgery,(they went in on the right from side of my neck) and for this surgery they wanted to go in on the left side of my neck, anyway they wanted to scope and look at my vocal cords, first before they did the surgery. They found that my vocal cords on my right side were still partially paralyzed from my first surgery in 85. The ENT doc who scoped my vocal cords said he was surprised that more people didn't have these problems from this type of surgery, because of how they have to move the esophagus to get at the cervical spine, and the nerve that innervates the vocal cords is often stretched and can easily be damaged. Anyway since the nerve going to the vocal cords on my right side was obviously damaged they decided it was best just to go in on the right side again and not take a chance going in on the left side and possibly damaging the nerve going to the left side vocal cords, as then I might not have any voice at all.

After both my ACDF surgeries the pain in my arms was alleviated right away. But every since my first ACDF I still have problems if I strain on put pressure on my neck I start retching and gagging and with it I have needle sticks and electric shocks run across from shoulder to shoulder front and back! It is very very painful, and the retching and gagging is so violent, and intense, it just wears you out! I was told it is actually laryngeal spasms. It looks like I am going to vomit but the stomach is not involved just the muscles of the neck and throat!

When I have the swallowing difficulties, it is like the peristalsis of the throat that propels the food down from your mouth to your stomach stops, and the bolus of food just sits there! If I continue to try to eat or drink, I choke, and make a mess! But if I just sit and wait it out, it starts up again, and I am alright! It is a very uncomfortable feeling though. Whether this was caused by my surgery or by the damage to my spinal cord I do not know. When I first had my first ACDF in 1985 the disc at C6/7 was so badly herniated that it actually ruptured and there was pieces of the disc floating in my spinal canal and the disc was pressed into my spinal cord so bad that it distorted its shape. The surgeon said with all the damage, that he did not understand why I wasn't a quadriplegic! I guess I was really lucky or someone was watching out for me!

Anyway with what you have been through, I just wanted you to know that there are some here that can relate to what your going through, and we are here for you, and give you our support!

Again I Welcome you to the forum!

White Beard

Alcie I have been on Baclofen for many years, and it really has been a Godsend for me! I was started out on low dose of 5mg every 8 hours, and slowly increased till it was effective. I have been on 30mg every 8 hours for a long time. The doctor will not let me go any higher. For the most part this dosage has been very effective, every now and again I will have problems with muscle spasms, (just about like the baclofen had lost all its strength) this will last any where from a few days to a couple of weeks. But then it subsides. But without it, I was having severe muscle spasms everywhere and all the time. The Baclofen did not seem to do anything to alleviate the gagging or retching episodes, but they seem to be triggered by physical strain and activity. Anyway I am told if I qualify for the Pain Pump that they will be able to put the baclofen into the pump and the dosage would be allot less, and yet still be effective! I have just done the neuropsych testing last week and should find out at my next appointment the first week in May, if I qualify and they will put in the pump.

Anyway I hope that the Baclofen helps you Alcie! Good Luck to YOU!

White Beard

P.S Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt your thread or get off topic Texas122.

I understand about the inability to swallow solid foods, does liquids bother you? I know right after I had my first ACDF at C6/7 eating and drinking was a real problem. I found drinking liquids through a straw one of the most difficult things to do and would literally choke when ever I tried it! I found that it improved in time just as I was getting my voice back. But it was worrisome and unsettling. I know the surgeon came in an literally said "what is the matter with your voice and the nurse told me you were choking allot!" He said it in a way like it was "my" fault! Heck I was talking fine before the surgery! For several days he kept telling me he was sure that it wasn't from the surgery. Then he had a ENT doc come in and look at my vocal cords and sure enough they were paralyzed but he assured me it was only temporary. Well it was my voice came back slowly but it did take just a little over 3 months. My pain was mostly in my pelvis because that is where they took the chunk of bone from me for the bone graft to fuse the C6/7 vertebra together. At that time the ACDF was a new type of surgery, and they did not use cadaver bone for the fusion or any hardware. I had to wear a soft collar for many many many months. I was out of work for a long time and when I did go back to work I could only work a few hours a day and I slowly had to build up to an eight hour shift. At that time I was a branch chief of the A-10 flight simulator in the Air Force.

White Beard

I had ACDf w/ AO plates at the C-4-5 and C5-6 levels. I had neck pain form many many years after. Last year I traveled down to Dallas for 2nd and 3rd opions. I had found out that the ulna nerve in my elbow was causing most of the painin my neck. After having an EMG done I finally had the ulna nerve in my right elbow rerouted into the muscle. The neck pain has almost diappeared. The only disdvantage is I have no feeling on the outside of my forearm, pins and needles in my right ring and little finges and resuced strength in the entire arm. I read up on this pocedure and read many pros and cons and no one ever mentioned these possible side effects. Now I am afraid to have the left arm done. I use to be a transcriptionist for a pathology group and typed over 60 words a minute and now maybe 20 to 25.
Is to swollowing issues after the neck surgery, I had issuses for about 2 weeks but a soft diet (soups, oatmeal) helped. Don't go for steaks, chicken or any snack foods untill you can swallow properly