1 week post op acdf c4-7

Well its been 1 week. Not going as planned. Got this darn sinus thing going on with nasal drip and cough. ..ugggg . Oh yeah ,did i mention sneezing too! Ouch! I think i pulled something yesterday when i sneezed 5 times in a row ! I wanted to cry. So that realy set me back . Before that even with the lousy feeling of the sinus i was feeling pretty good surgical wise.surgical site looks good,other then it being hard along the surgical line ? Is this normal? All steri strips are off thank goodness! They were driving me nuts ! Now this morning i woke and the dreaded pain in my left arm is back. i hope this doesn't mean i did something bad. I am going to call the surgeon today to see what he thinks.anyway. ...guess it will be a lazy,take it really easy kind of day. Hope everyone is doing well !!

I'm glad you are calling your dr today. I'll be eager to hear how that goes.

How long have you been told to stay off work? Is resting any easier in one of your collars? For me I slept better in the hard one a few times. At least you can switch them out. At this very early stage I hope you are resting several times a day, plus nights.

Don't Over Do! Think Fusion!

Abilene...,i have an aspen collar to wear for comfort around the house and i have to wear it when i go out for walks and in the car...i do wear it alot in the house because it gives me a little more support, when i do take it off i can feel it after about an hour off that my head starts to feel heavy and muscles start to spasm. I am off for at least 6 weeks. I go at 3 weeks post op for check and he is ordering me a bone stimulator. Then 3 weeks after that i go again ..we will take it from there and see whats what. I think i might have over did it a little yesterday. ..had a leak in my master bedroom with the toilet that was leaking into the basement ...so i had a plumber out all morning and was on the phone alot trying to get estiments to replace the bathroom floor. Stress i understand isnt good for the healing process. .but what can ya do? Alot of rest for me today...imnot doing anything ! Haha.

I've never had surgery on my neck, but on my list of operations, we can include my lumbar spine.

So in that respect I can share that yep, after my surgery, various neurological symptoms would pop up, disappear, then reappear....

To be honest, it's still happening, and I'm 1.8 years post-op. Those nerves take a lonnnng time to heal and regenerate. It's important to remind yourself of this,....again and again,............and again!!

Every now and then I feel like I simply "should" be done with all this, but every now and then I get a boot in my tookus to remind me that my body went through a heck of a shock and that it's always best to err on the side of caution.

Be nice to yourself.....you're worth it!












M.

I'm a lot older than you probably-65-and I was not working so that took lots of pressure off me.

Good for you for having a plan to listen to your own body. We have several others here who understand your job and would have better answers for you.

If you want to start another thread and include your job in the title that would get their attention.