2 weeks 2 days post op; posterior c-spine surgery, pain levels^^^

Hurry up Monday so your doctor can answer your questions!! And get the stitches out!

In my opinion you are well within the normal range for this beastly surgery you have just had.

My first check up was at 2 1/2 weeks, just about like you. I only had steri strips, no staples like White Beard and no stitches like you. I hope that getting them out will make you more comfortable.

I'm glad you did not choose to go on a long car ride. Vibrations are not good for your fusion.

Try to get back on top of the pain, rather than chasing it, for greater relief. You probably did not stay in your "nest" while visiting yesterday. I think at that point my limit of holding my head up without support was about 15 minutes, then the burning shoulders and neck started. ICE TIME and relax those muscles in your nest.

I just thought of something I've read here, not sure who wrote it. It would have helped me since I knew there was a limit of how long I could be up and stay somewhat comfortable. Just set a timer! Then if you have guests or get busy you still get a reminder that your neck and shoulders need to rest and maybe ice too. A timer going off after 15 minutes would have kept me from overdoing many times. I finally, after months, got to the point that I could just sit down and lean back a few minutes and be ok. It would have been less of a problem if I had not allowed myself to get to that point in the first place. When I first got back in the kitchen is when I really needed to do that. I would try to push the limits which is never worth it. A 15 minute reminder to stop and rest would have been great. May still try that.

Do you have any movement in your neck yet? I did not at this point. Scared me when my dr told me at that first check up that I could take the collar off and move my neck slowly, carefully, but do NOT force it. It did not move. By 3 months it did move just a little, then I started PT which helped. That was not until after the x-rays showed signs of fusion.

So take it easy, take your meds, don't overdo and Think Fusion!!

When is that grandbaby due?

Thanks so much Abilene and Susie! I am Judy,,by the way. The timer thing is a great idea, and I would be so much better if I hadn't stayed "up" while they were here.

She is due the first week in December...I gotta be much better by then, so that's my goal. Baby girl!!

Abilene, my neck -can- move..... But it isn't pleasant when it does. I have already thought of how it's gonna feel to be out and about, I think I will have a cow when someone is behind me....uuugh!

about 45 minutes ago, I just took a 50mg nucynta, and I think my pain is starting to let up... I think I can actually eat now.. Thanks for the support.... I am just worried about taking these meds for this long. -Judy

Judy as long as you take your meds as prescribed you will not have a problem with them. It is not uncommon to need pain control for months after this surgery either. The goal should be that as this pain lessens then you can gradually cut back to whatever your need is. Once the pain escalates it is so hard to get it back under control.

Thank you Abilene and Susie. You always give such good, wise advice.. I find myself using my collar that they gave me at the hospital, mainly when I have been sitting up for quite a while.

This little baby girl is my motivator right now, and I want to have a shower for her hopefully some time before the baby gets here the first week in December! Is that a good thing to do? I've never dealt with this before!

Oh! I forgot to mention that my second son got engaged in July, and they, plus her family, are probably coming here at Christmas. Plus, my step-daughter, who doesn't get along with my oldest son, is coming home sometime between Turkey Day, and Christmas.

Doesn't that sound like the stereotypical Holiday family nightmare? I am just focusing on what a blessing it will be to see my kids, some at the same time as their siblings!

Thank y'all for everything.

Even more reason to be kind to your body & let it heal. It sounds like you will be busy during the holidays & you really want to be on your feet really well to enjoy all of this.

Hi Quincy and Sunshine, Quincy, there's nothing like family, even if I overdid it! You are right! And Sunshine, I don't know how I missed your post. let me try to answer your questions, etc,

First of all, bless your heart! I know you must have gone through soo much pain, and I'm sorry you have had to deal with it! I'm glad that at least you seem to have it somewhat controlled. I know I should keep ahead of my pain....I think what I do is to erroneously believe that maybe, just maybe my pain might have gone down, and the pain med is just "masking" it.

I have dealt with lots if pain through the years, but my c-spine issues have been chronic, and impossible to get under control...since a bad car wreck in 2003. I was t-boned when going through an intersection on my way to work. This kid was flying, and I can remember seeing his huge SUV bearing down on me, and then he hit me. (From the left) so I was knocked from my left side, so hard that my right leg hit the center console hard enough to break my right leg. The worst problem was that my neck got snapped from side to side, and it HURT. I had a ACDF in 2004' for herniated disc at c5-6. it did NOT ever stop hurting, so the next year, this same ortho practice said I needed another ACDF at C6-7. This didn't touch the chronic pain, so I was in for major physical therapy, injections galore, and nobody in this original practice to ever figure out why I was still in so much pain.

I went back to same ortho practice early this year, for the same pain, and they did a new MRI, and flexion X-rays. A surgeon that I had never met told me there was nothing they could do for my "arthritis" in my spine, so he referred me to their pain management.

The PM doctor I saw was horrible, told me that I had a probable failed fusion, according to the surgeon that referred me, but she said there was nothing They could do, she refused to prescribe anything for my pain!!! She told me it wouldn't kill me, but it was going to hurt. She tried to say I was just seeking pain medicine! Can you believe that? I have been living in constant pain for so long. I'm getting lost in this story and rambling, sorry.

Luckily, I have a good primary care doc, and she said I needed to get a second opinion. She set it up, and I went to the new surgeon. He asked what he could do for me, I told him I was living in constant pain. He looked at my MRI and X-ray, and he told me he thought I definitely had a failed fusion at C5-6. The surgeon who did my 2nd fusion took the plates/screws off level C5-6. I don't know why. Consequentially, this fusion failed,,causing continuous pain.
So, off to new surgeon, who is a fellow, and this is a major teaching hospital.


He made me get injections in my c-spine to confirm where the pain was coming from. He also,did a CT scan. Everything was coming from C567 so he said it came down to a quality of life issue. He said I needed new posterior surgery to fuse my failed fusions, and laminectomies to make more room for my "smushed" nerves. And here I am..2 weeks after surgery for a car accident 11 years ago/2 failed fusions.

After my second surgery, my range of motion never changed that much. One horrible thing that DID happen was a frozen shoulder. Omgoodness, that hurt. They did an arthroscopy on my shoulder because the MRI suggested a rim/rent tear, whatever the heck that was. Just meant more PT, and then more PT.

As far as what my current surgeon told me to expect after this surgery,he told me that I was in for a painful recovery, but he really thought he could increase my quality of life with this surgery. He made it crystal clear that I was gonna have significant pain, but that I would ultimately feel better, he thinks.

I am thinking at this point that my chronic pain is better, judging from my ride home from the hospital. I didn't hurt in the same way it hurt before when we would go over a bump. Yay! I am hoping things continue to improve, I need patience! I wish you the best! Sorry I rambled, hopefully I answered your questions. If not, ask me again! Happy Saturday to y'all.

Poplar,
thank you for your response. Now I have a better understanding of what your going through & I'm sorry it has taken you a 3rd surgery on your neck to try to get it repaired so you can have better quality of life.
I really hope it's finally done & you will recover & be pain free finally on your neck!

I am really upset with the surgeon who did my ACDF (he's a Neuro) because I now believe he made the wrong decision by doing 2 levels when it clearly showed on my MRI's that 4 levels needed to be fused! As I look back and my Mom too coz she was there, his attitude seemed to change as if he was offended about the 2nd opinion surgeons suggestion to do all 4 levels because we remember him saying "well, if you want him in the OR too that's fine". We really didn't think about it at the time.
Even before the surgery, he asked me which hurts worse, your neck or your back? I told him my back but he was treating my neck at the time not my back is what he said. Why he asked is beyond me.?.

After the surgery which I think went pretty good & healing time not as bad as I anticipated, except he released me back to work too soon (another story) he seemed sarcastic when I was asking him about my back. He said "what do you want me to do?" I asked him what about doing an MRI to see what's going on in there? He said fine so I had it done.
Then when I went for the results, he said sarcastically, "your not a candidate for surgery" and left me with that. Again I didn't pay attention to his attitude at the time & was just glad to hear what I thought he was saying which was I didn't have a serious back problem. He was a horrible Dr too! I'm rambling again...sorry.

My back pain seemed to ease & hurt on & off until January 2013 & that's when I went on to my journey with my back surgery. The pain became constant. I was going through my MRI's & X-rays recently that I have & the reports and found that in 2010 when I went to the ER coz I couldn't barely walk and in 2011 again, just before I started seeing the Neuro, that I had a herniated discs all that time. This was before he did my surgery. So again, It makes me very upset that the Neurosurgeon who did my ACDF was not as efficient that I thought he was. :(. I had back issues the whole time, I wish I had that MRI disc he sent me for in the end! That would open a can of worms for sure.

The Orthosurgeon I'm seeing now that did my back said that he'd take the screws and plate off my previous ACDF & fuse the level above & below and put a new (bigger) plate & screws to support all 4 levels.
I have a upcoming appt with a new Neurosurgeon on the 19th so he will be my 2nd opinion.

Anyway I agree with Dixie6 last post. Congrats on the new baby and Go Slow so you can go fast later!
I have one grandson right now, he's going to be 4 in October, love him to pieces.

I 2nd that, I hope your appt goes well too.
Please let us know how it goes.

I didn't have any issues with my shoulder when I had my ACDF before of after until now, I do and it started about mid last year. My left upper arm was hurting so bad & I couldn't lift it very high before I'd yell in pain. The doctor I saw then took x-rays & said I had inflammation in the rotator cuff so he gave me a shot. I want to say it didn't work because I got no relief in pain until about a month later. So I'm not sure if it was the shot that helped or what coz it was so long after before it felt better. Anyway I have the same problem going on now for about the last 7 months. There are so many thing going on with my health right now so this has not been addressed as of yet.

Abilene,
I hope the PT helps your neck & shoulder. Since your doctor and the PT told you your shoulder & neck are not really related, did either of them say what happened to your shoulder? I'm wondering coz I didn't get an explanation either. Seems strange that people have shoulder issues at the same time they have neck problems...hmm

Sounds like your range of motion will be livable so that's good to know for me because I will end up having a 2nd neck surgery and I was worried about that.


Just take things s l o w.....

Hi sweet sunshine 4 me just a quick question for you, did your surgeon mention to you that when you have a fusion, that the fused area puts extra stress on the disc above and below the fusion, and there is a good possibility that those disc will go bad in the future and you will need more fusions?  I was just wondering if this is what happened to you?  My one neurosurgeon said that the average time was about ten years, some much shorter and some allot longer! I got close to 25 years out of  my first fusion before the one above it went bad and had to be fused. then the year after they fused C5/6 in 2009 they had to fuse the articular joints, in the back of the neck at C3/4 2010 he told me then that all the stress is going to be at C4/5 and that disc would be next to go bad. I wish he would have just done that one too, but they don't like doing that! They will only do the ones that are causing problems at the time! At least that is what my surgeon said!

Poplar keep thinking about the end goal, and be gentle with yourself! You have been given allot of excellent advice. Just be patient, (I know that is easier said than done!) but you will get feeling better as time goes on,  you have to be good to yourself right now, just take it easy and don't over due it! Keep ahead of your pain, and don't let it get out of hand, as it is much harder to get it back under contol, than to keep it from getting really bad in the first place! Remember you have to be in shape for your new Grandbaby! So do the right things now so you will be! I have two Grandchildren a girl 5 and a boy that will be two, so I understand how important that is.

 Congratulations to you on being a future Grandma!

White Beard

Poplar grove,
I am so sorry you hurt so bad. But it is normal and for me it was like that for quite some time. Only now is it better. But I have still set myself off recently at 12 weeks by pushing a shopping cart. Had to put my hard collar back on and sit real still with ice and the meds didn't even touch my pain. And take it from me, don't entertain! Don't even think about it! I have had a revolving door of company since my surgery and these people caused me a lot of pain! Even fixing dinner now can exhaust me.

Look up on the Internet the nerves and muscles of the neck and shoulders and it will show you why you hurt when you move your upper body. My neurosurgeon said 6-12 months of shoulder and neck pain from surgery because they went in there and irritated the heck out of everything.

Slow, slow, slow. Rest arms on pillows. I have a pillow under my arms as I type on my iPad, or even just sitting in a chair. When you walk stick those hands in your pockets and relax your arms and shoulders. As my friend said, you will reach for something, then the next day you will hurt bad and not remember that you reached for something, but that is what triggers that pain. I of course, need to follow my own advice....

Hang in there and let people take care of you - it is a major surgery!
Hugs 💜

Hi there,

Re meds: I don't know enough about meds to know if the plan is good but once again, like in the hospital, this decision is being made by someone who probably does not deal with people who have had chronic pain and been on meds a long time. Your surgeon seemed to understand, so I like your plan to contact him sooner rather than later if needed. I know you hoped to avoid it but still a PM dr for a year or so might make life easier for you to recover from this surgery. Just a thought.

Re 4 hour trip: I did a 3 hour trip at 6 months post op with no problems. So don't rush that. Will you have a comfortable place after your long ride?

Re dishwasher: That involves bending over which is a no-no unless you unload it while doing squats. It probably also involves reaching up to put things away which is not good either. So wait longer for that. Nvrthesame98 told how she uses an office chair that lowers and scoots all around her kitchen. That would work to unload without bending over. I've told how one of my greatest self induced pains was overloading the detergent in the dishwasher then trying to fix that-I was bent over way too long and paid for it. I did the same thing again recently and didn't even attempt to fix it. Lesson learned.

Not doing much is really hard for you, but so worth it in the long run, the very long run. I'm glad you are trying to hold yourself down. I have to tell you that having a little one folding clothes with you will be so much fun. I have one who just loves to "help".

My long time chronic neck pain was on my right side and it's still there some. That's also the side where my shoulder impingement is. Which side was your frozen shoulder?

Take it easy! Think Fusion!