New member debating a C3-6 ACDF

and how do you all survive if out of work for so long with no short term disability? Is there some place that you get temporary help from?

Hi Joe, you know that is kind of a secret that allot of surgeons don't talk about with their patients, once you have a fusion it does put more stress and pressure on the disc above and below the fused area! I have had a couple of neurosurgeons tell me the average is usually about ten years and then the patient will need another fusion. I got close to 25 years after my first fusion before the disc above went bad!

With all my fusions I had very good results with pain relief in my arms and hand and relief from the numbness and tingling! My personal feelings about disc problems is, the lower in the spine they are, the less possibility of catastrophic damage! Thus if you let it go, you might suffer through allot of pain, the consequences of such action will not necessarily be life changing or life threatening! However if the disc in your cervical spine get worse, or suddenly something happens that make them get allot worse, well the consequences could be ........well let's just say very very bad! Maybe my fears are unfounded but I do know what I went through in my first fusion ordeal, and the surgeon shaking his head telling me he did not know why I wasn't a quadriplegic with the all damage from that disc! Makes me just a bit more cautious I guess, in letting the cervical disc get possibly worse! Now I know my disc at L5 is shot, and I am putting that fusion off as long as possible! I personally will not do that with the disc in my neck!

You know your own body, and just something you will have to make a decision on! As for disability I would encourage anybody and everybody to take both short and long term disability from their employer! You never know what life has to offer you, and the amount you get taken out of your pay check is nothing compared to what you might reap if you find you need to use it!

Good luck to you Joe, I do wish you well! And yet again Welcome to the forum!

White Beard

Thanks all for the info. Yes, I have checked at work for the STD and LTD, but it does ask specifically if within the last 5 years have I seen a doctor or had information on Heart issues, neck or back issues etc... I had a CVA (TIA) this past February, 10 days after having a stent in my circumflex, so that's out. Also, I have been on pain meds and Lyrica for awhile now and have been seeing a neurologist for over a year due to the increased pain and numbness in my right hand and fingers, so again thats out. The terms of STD at work is 12 months without any issues. So I cant wait another 12 months through this. Injections have barely made the pain tolerable with the pain meds.
I am a Licensed Tax Profession and sit at a desk typing and dealing with the IRS all day so I may have difficulty working, but I am hanging in their.
Abilene: I having gotten the OK from my cardiologist yet because I would need to get off my Plavix for 7 days prior and 10 days after surgery; so it'll be a gamble.
CspineLuvr: Thanks, I do appreciate the warning. My nearo-surgeon did give me the best and the worse case scenario, and even with him being a surgeon, I saw the MRI and could very clearly see the impingement and the 2 vertebrae that shifted back, so I know the dangers of not getting it done, and YES My 1st surgeon told me that down the road I would have to have the 4-5 and 5-6 done as they were bulging and I had narrowing of the foramen back then in 2006. I just wouldn't let him do the bulging ones; only the ruptured disc.
Looks like I will have to have it done, but am scaring sh#$%less to go thru it again, but much more involved. I have a hard time swallowing nownevermind later.
Thanks All. will keep you abreast of my situation and decision. Glad I found this forum. Great place to just vent.

Joe you will lose quite a bit of movement in your neck, I know with my C3/4 fused and my C5-6-7 fused I have lost allot, especially the ability to look upward,  and to some extent my side to side movement.  I like photography and like taking pictures of the night time heavens, and without a prism eye piece, the objects that is higher up in the sky is just about impossible for me to see!   Extra mirrors do help with the driving, where there is a will there is a way to find a solution to these new problems!

I also still have swallowing problems from my first fusion in 1985, they tell me that my vocal cords on the right side are still  partially paralyzed from that time, along with as the doctor put it in the last EGD I had a couple of months ago, that there is some tertiary contractions and evidence of mild esophageal dismotility!  I am pretty well used to that, as I have had to live with it for so long! But this type of surgery does change things, how much it will affect you being able to perform your job, well to be honest, you probably won't really know that until you have the surgery and then when you go back to work! Everyone is so different, and there can be major difference just between the different surgeries! You might have a completely different experience with this than what you did with your first ACDF. For me there was a world of difference from the ACDF I had in 1985 at C6/7 (but that disc, was really badly damaged, and was really pressing badly into my spinal cord, and also it had broken up and there was free floating fragments, floating in my spinal canal) But  the one I had in 2009 at C5/6!  This was the second one, and it  was so much easier, and much quicker healing time too!. I think the worst one for me as far a post op pain that lasted,  was the posterior articular joint fusion of C3/4  that I had in 2010,  that took forever to heal and get the pain under control!

There is no easy answers, and you have allot on your plate to deal with! Good Luck to you!

Please keep us informed on how you are doing

White Beard

I can move 75% or so side to side but find my whole body moving (I'm sure to minimize pain) I can't really look over my shoulder and the crunching every-time i move my head is aggravating. No MAJOR neck pain, mainly shoulder and the numbness mainly in my right hand with the burning. When my neck hurts it runs straight up my neck into my head. I haven't felt anything on my right shoulder and down my tricep in a year.
If my cardio allows me to have this done, it will be soon. thanks for all the info. I mainly wanted to see how everyone faired before I made such a decision. It is hard to decide to tolerate the pains (which I have for quite awhile) and can longer, or to get 'er done like my neuro wants stating I MUST have it done or the risks are too much. Always wonder since he is a surgeon, if that's all he wants to do, is surgery. regardless if it is fully absolutely neccesary. Joe

Your correct Abilene, my doctor wanted to go in on the left side, but when he found that my vocal cords on my right side were  still partially paralyzed from my first fusion, he did not want to take the risk of causing any problems with the left vocal cords by damaging the nerves!  So he went in on the right side just a little above the incision from the first ACDF , and it all worked out really well!

The ENT doc told me when he was examining my vocal cords that it was really amazing that there wasn't more problems with people having ACDF surgery! He told me that, this type of  procedure put allot of stress on the nerves going to the throat and vocal cords, and he personally was surprised that more people didn't have more problems from having this surgery! Just his opinion of course, but I think it just goes to show how flexible and tolerant are bodies really are! They do say the healling time and pain factor is allot less using the anterior approach, than using the posterior approach, plus it is allot easier for the surgeon!

White Beard

Joe, only you can make this decision but the big concern should be waiting too long & potentially causing permanent damage. You have the right mind set to keep going & have a life in spite of it all, however, don't let that mind set be your demise either. A lot of people have DDD, its part of aging, its one of those things that can be mild to severe. I would be concerned about the impingement higher up that is causing the numbness & tingling. Cspine is the first one that I have ever heard had a ENT involved in surgery, not a bad idea.

Take care.

Will submit the findings in abit.

So MY friends, can I put this off for while or... the doctor notes for surgery say C3-6 ACDF (anterior cervical discectomy & fusion) with exploation of fusion C6-7.
I was told but it doesn't say that 2 discs shifted to the rear creating this issue, but can clerly be seen on the MRI

I probably can get a referral for a 2nd opinion. Mayo right down the street from work. I'll try and advise.
Why heavy metal poisoning test? Have something to do with C spine issues? jr

I see my Cardio Doc Tuesday to see if and or when they'll let me off the Plavix long enough to have this done. The neuro-surgeon said I needed 7 day before surgery and 10 days after surgery in order for him to do it. I have a PFO closure coming up on Monday the 28th unless I can put that off and get the ACDF scheduled and a 2nd opinion within the next week or so. If not it wont matter much as my insurance starts over August 1st, and I'll have the deductible and 5K out of pocket again.
Will advise after my Tuesday appointment. Joe

He juat let me off the Plavix so it'll be abit before the 3-6 ACDF. They delayed the PFO closure as I previously has an A-Fib in the cath lab and they had to jolt me back to rhythm so I get a cardio implant to monitor my A-fib. If nothing in a few months they'll do it, if so then a small open heart procedure to sew up the hole. But on the better side, i DO have cardiac clearance for the ACDF, so it'll be within the next month or so. It will be good to have less pain and feel my parts again.
joe