5 weeks post op c4-7 acdf

Just a reminder, I haven't had your particular surgery, but I did want to say you're still quite fresh from surgery.

The biggest thing I could emphasize is something that this Forum here has helped me with a lot, which is to not over-do it. I'm much the same way, I can't stay still, I need to fidget and be doing something. When I had my back surgery, the recovery was a whole lot longer than what I was told.

So please take it easy even on days you feel well.

It's great news that swallowing is getting easier for you already! That's exceptional! Sometimes it can take a few months, so you're doing great!







M.

Noooo, it's two steps forward, and one step back....and we all do it! I think pretty much the lot of us here have overdone things, and yes, there will be setbacks. There are setbacks even for people who have not had surgery!

This is all part of life, and you're okay, this is okay, this too is part of the healing process. Testing the boundaries. I'm a veteran of CP and I still push those limits and am still learning. I'll keep learning all my life.

You're making remarkable progress!! :)








M.

I understand how tired you are of that 2 step forward, 1 step back dance. We all just want to feel better NOW! Truly this is a great place to vent where people understand perfectly. It's good that you can notice the little things, like your scar healing well. That's important.

I'm also blessed with one of those wonderful husbands who has been very patient and kind. He has had one surgery and I've had many. Frankly, I make a much better patient than he does, so I can always be thankful it's me in recovery rather than him. Then I have to say he is a better caretaker than I am, so we're each where we need to be.

Taller,

I am not recommending this but it seems to have given me a good night of sleep. I hope you can find comfort soon.

Yesterday I went to the lake and walked out to just the point where I felt I could still stand and not fall if the waves came in. I circled my arms and shoulders in the water for about 20 minutes. I was very tired when I got home because I could not comfortably sit anywhere though we only stayed for an hour.

I have been told that water exercises are some if the first ones to try once the approval to exercise is given (ummm, yeah, I don't have that yet).

I took my normal muscle relaxer and narcotic to sleep. I woke up with no pain in my shoulders and arms. It all came back hours later but I had some relief. I truly wonder if the movement in the water may have helped. I am home alone much of the time but when I get the chance...I am going to try to get to a pool or the lake and circle my arms again.

Taller Now

Great idea to get a recliner. I lived in mine for 8 weeks after my ACDF surgery. Not only sleep, but it provided shoulder and neck relief after walking or too much activity. Using heating pad and ice pack seems more comfortable in a recliner.

Sorry about the swallowing. I am 6 months post-op and still am having difficulty. Unfortunately, my throat muscles weakened and nothing they can do short-term to fix. Small bits, lots of chewing and water. I get bored quickly eating like this and typically eat half a meal. I am told it will get better.

I hope better results are close by for you.

Texas122 thanks for the validation on the recliner. You said it perfectly the rest for shoulder and ability to get ice there. I am sorry to hear about your swallowing, seems like a common issue. My doctor said I would always feel the plate rubbing against my esophagus but would get used to it and now it is also inflamed from all the trauma of surgery. I am already thin and wasting away, so I add butter and fattening things to my food to keep some weight on. Guess it may be a permanent weight loss program. I understand the small bites, lots of chewing, and water. It is exhausting to eat.

Jpr50 - that sounds awful, picking pieces out of spinal cord! That is significant trauma! I am sorry. My husband and I chatted and came to the conclusion you mentioned, it is doing anything too much increases pain. One thing that increases my pain and even makes me light- headed is showering esp. the days I take off my brace and wash my hair. So today I am doing a sponge bath and skipping the shower routine and taking it real easy to see if I can calm things down. And I think he is going to hunt down a recliner for me.

Carrie, thanks for the encouragement. I am a fish biologist and love the water so just thinking about floating makes me feel good. 🐠

Have any of you had the bone fuser? I think it also increases my pain.

Mentally I am just beginning to come to terms with the fact that this is going to be a really long healing process, collar and all.....thankful for this forum. I wish all of you days with little pain.

Thanks Merrida, I will ask my daughter for some, I think she uses it sometimes.

Abilene,
Thanks for the validation on the recliner, we are thinking it may help me sleep better (this collar makes it so hard). I am using a reclining lawn chair and is the only place I can sit and often take naps in it too. We have this beautiful new home and a recliner wouldn't really go in here, but neither does a lawn chair so we figure if we don't invest too much in one, I will use it as long as I need it and get rid of it when I am done. Especially since it looks like I will be using it for quite some time.

I am glad you are having a good week! Is it because you are taking it more easy than normally? Do you have any idea why? Have you gone back to work? And if so, when did you do that?

I am dedicating this day to taking it real easy and hope that I will benefit tomorrow with a reduction in pain. Every time I feel better I do more, then my pain increases, so maybe I can break that cycle.

I hope you don't take your good week and do too much so you can have a second good week miss happy camper!

No work for me, before or after surgery. Hubby and I are both retired, so I do not have that concern. I'm still taking it easy, just doing what I feel up to but notice that is more this week. I've gone on outings several times recently without suffering afterwards. So that gives me the courage to try again the next day and it's working. Really I think it's just TIME. And I'm not staying busy ALL day or running any races, just slowly getting back to normal.

Hoping your cycle is broken!

Carrie,
Thanks, where did you build this cradle? In bed? Did you also do it in the living room? I have a zero gravity lawn chair in my great room so I can watch TV or sit with visitors. Thought a temporary recliner would look better than that, or maybe not 😯

I will check out that website, thanks for the tip! How are you progressing now?

Hi Taller Now.... You mentioned in your post ((that you have a new home and a recliner really wouldn't go in it  very well. So if you get one you don't want to invest much money in it so you can get rid of it when your done with it!)) You know right now, your comfort and healing is more important than what you might want your house to look like LOL May I suggest that getting a cheap recliner or one that might not fit you right, could be worse for you than not getting one at all. The best (ideal) thing to do would be to go to different places that sell recliners and try the different ones out and see which one is more comfortable for you and fits you the best. If you can not get out, (you mentioned that you could not travel in a car yet) then may be if your husband got your different height measurements as in total height, height from floor to shoulders, and floor to hips, then maybe he could use these measurements and with the assistance of a good sales clerk familiar with recliners, maybe he could get you one that would work for you!  You had also mentioned that sleeping was difficult for you, and than you nap in your lawn chair, sleep is really important, especially to healing, and if you can sleep better in a recliner. I woulld also suggest  you consider getting a really good one, one that will last and hold up to lots of use, and is really comfortable for you to sleep in! .After all you might need it longer than what you might think and or want. You could certainly hide it in another room when your done with it couldn't you?  Even after your healed up, you never know when you might  want to go and sit in it again.

 Just some thoughts to maybe consider I do wish you well!

White Beard

P.S. I am sure that most men look at recliners differently than women, LOL,  and often have different priorities, so please don't take offense to anything I said in my post.

Hi!
White Beard - I appreciate your input. No offense taken! My husband did do some looking around and is willing to get anything to make me more comfortable. He brought home a nice memory foam pad for my use in the zero gravity chair that has been working for me. I put a soft flannel sheet over that and I now have a very comfortable recliner that is my size (small) and works really well. It doesn't make any fashion statement in my great room but as you said that doesn't really matter right now. He asked me if I would like to get real recliner and I declined because with the foam pad and pillows it is very comfortable. Although if it looks like a long term need I can see investing in a good zero gravity type recliner. One of my issues is sciatica so sitting is always my enemy. As for sleeping I drug up at night, get up once or twice to walk off my sciatica take some more meds and go back to sleep. And no, I still cannot be in a car for more than 3-4 miles. I hate this collar mor each day.

Abilene: you are doing much better now? I feel like I have turned a corner. I have more energy. But had some "friends" stopped by on their road trip this last weekend and that set me back. They didn't help, they didn't offer to go to the store, they didn't restock the food that I have to have other people shop for and left my house a mess! My husband took them out of the house on Sunday on a sightseeing tour so I could rest. But I have been cleaning the past two days. It makes me mad just to think of them. They are such slobs they probably didn't even realize they left a mess.

I tried just walking in a pool last night. That was nice, but between cleaning and the pool feeling pretty sore today. Neck is more sore than normal and some pain around my clavicle that I felt right after being in the pool.

I start working from home next Monday, which is good and necessary. I have become used to being alone so in a much better mental state.

Have any of you gone swimming with your hard collar? And if so how did you deal with it? Did you take the pads out? Or leave them in and then change them? I was thinking of just leaving them out and maybe putting a wash cloth in the chin pad and in back. I will have an opportunity to go back to the pool this week.

Take care and thanks for checking in. One of my good friends had a double mastectomy yesterday, which puts my situation in a different perspective.