Upcoming 4 level ACDF. Questions to ask?

Hi Darla & welcome to the forum. You have a big surgery coming up for sure. A lot of levels involved, but this has become a pretty standard surgery. More importantly, have you had a 2nd opinion & even possibly a 3rd opinion? We highly suggest this to our members when having any type of spine surgery. We are not saying a person has a bad dr, but having different opinions are helpful.

A lot of people ask if they will be in a neck brace & how long, do ask how your post-op pain will be handled by the dr, access to having reasonable questions answered by phone should you need to call the office. Above all, do not let the surgeon tell you this will be an out-patient procedure. A surgery this big, you need to be monitored to make sure you have no issues so that when you are released, you are stable enough to handle things at home. Yes, it sounds great to be told you will go home that night, please do not do that. We see folks go home & end up back in ER either from poor pain control, nausea & things like this.

You will need someone t home with you for the first week, 2 weeks would be even better. Get a recliner if you do not have one. Either borrow or rent one. This is where you will be most comfortable at sleeping & during the day. Unless you have an electric bed that raises & lowers, a recliner is the ticket. The folks that attempted to sleep in their bed had a lot of issues. You do not want anyone attempting to pull on your arms trying to get out of a bed.

Be prepared before surgery, easy foods that can be heated in the microwave, plenty of bottled water, any medications you take, some like to listen to books with ear buds, holding books or magazines will be difficult. Go to the drug store or Walmart & buy yourself a reacher/grabber to pick things up off the floor. Those little gadgets are awesome. You will not feel like trying to bend over. Invest in some button up shirts, anything loose & cool. You will not feel like reaching over head to pull a shirt on. Comfy clothing. Patience is the key to having an uneventful recovery. It is going to take months for you to heal, not weeks. Do not push yourself thinking it will speed up the healing process, this causes set backs. Have reasonable expectations of yourself. This is the time to pamper yourself. Above all, listen to your body. If you are employed, do not make the mistake of returning to work in a few weeks.

At the top click on CP101, scroll down towards the end. There is a lengthy post there with lots of tips & information from members that has had surgery. There will be plenty of ideas there that will help you.

We have some members, Abilene, WhiteBeard, TallerNow & BirderNancy that I hope see's your post. They can offer you lots of good info too. Any specific questions, ask them & we will try to help you.

Welcome Darla,

What levels do you expect to have worked on? What symptoms are you having now? Did you have an injury that caused this? My own story is here using the same title just like it is in my signature. Mine was also 4 levels done from the Posterior, but still reading through my experience could help you. You might find the other posts by searching for ACDF or just search for our names. They are not all in a section together.

We see that those who rush back to work OR have small children to care for have more problems. Several months off work, even a desk job, is of great benefit. It takes quite a long time for the fusion to happen. There may be signs of fusion after 2 months but it's not a complete fusion for a year or more, so you still need to be careful and allow yourself to heal. Just knowing that this is very serious surgery that requires time to heal can be helpful to you. Some people expect to be back to normal in 2 weeks which just does not happen.

Physical Therapy was a big part of my recovery. I had lost some of my range of motion and had lots of pain before surgery-riding in a car or even walking jarred my neck and caused pain. The surgery relieved that pain very quickly. I had surgical pain which eventually healed, but that was different. My range of motion is and always will be limited-it's fused! My car with a back up camera and extra mirrors makes driving easier.

Let us know how your appointment goes. Ask any questions you want. We will try to answer.

Darla, word of caution, your online teaching is probably not going to happen for awhile, so please do not push yourself. Having help from your husband is imperative for this surgery. You may have had prior surgeries, those cannot be compared to spine surgery. This is a surgery you only want to do once!! This is why the post-op care is every bit as important as the surgeon's part.

Susie...I have been thinking about your advice about not working after the surgery. I am wondering if I will be able to use a tablet or a computer held up at eye level? If not can you elaborate? Thank you so much!

Thank you...I really value the input and the wisdom from experience. Not only your own but what you have seen over time. Very valuable and appreciated! It is scary but better to be aware. Thank you.

Darla, not sure how quick Abilene will see your post. For a quick answer use the Google Custom Search at the top left. Type in chronic pain forum Abilene surgery. It will quickly take you to her post dated 5-14, she gives an explanation of what led her to surgery. A lot of detail in her original post.

Out of curiosity, do you have a copy of your MRI report? And, I would also confirm with the dr tomorrow the surgery is anterior & not posterior.

As far as surgery being anterior vs posterior, depending on what needs to be fixed, such as if facet work is needed as an example, this needs a posterior approach. It all depends all what needs to be worked on. The anterior approach is somewhat easier for the patient.

BirderNancy is another member you can do a forum search on, I want to say she had a 4 level done.

I've had 2 knee replacements. How did you manage to have 3? Did one fail?

Hi Dara and Welcome to the forum! You've been given some excellent advice from people who know what this is like! Although I haven't had a multiple fusion at one time, I have had 3 fusions done on my cervical spine one at a time. 2 of them were ACDF's and one was done posterior with rods and pins. From my personal opinion the posterior approach was at least ten times worse than the Anterior approach. It was not only allot more painful after the surgery, it took a very long time to heal and recuperate and for the pain to finally go away!! Not saying that the ACDF is a picnic because one can always have complications with that type surgery too! My first ACDF I had some major problems but that was back when the Anterior approach was a realitivly new form of surgery. Most all my surgeries are pretty well covered in my post on this forum.

Anyway we have some very knowledgeable people on this forum and also some extremely compassionate and caring folks too! I hope you find this forum and the people on it as helpful and caring as I have during these trying times when your having these surgerical procedures performed. Folks here helped me immensely through some very difficult times!!

I wish you all the best, and if I or any of us here can be of any assistance to you just let us know! Good luck to you Dara!!

White Beard

Hello new friends! I went for my pre-op visit at the NS and it was so helpful to have everybody's input so thanks. It will be an anterior surgery (whew) and it sounds like things are really progressing in this technology and I will not even have a neck brace afterwards. I have no idea how that is possible so we shall see but it sounds good. It is 4 levels and a long procedure where my own bone and marrow and plastic and titanium cages will put me back together again. Hospital stay is supposed to be 2 nights (3 days) and the NS addressed all of my concerns so far. I am a chronic pain pt. due to my psoriatic arthritis so I was concerned about pain meds post op doing the job but he seemed to acknowledge my needs are not the same as a pt. not tolerant to meds. I will have a bone generator afterwards and that is all I can think of but it means a lot to have support and I will be checking back!

Hi Darla!

Welcome to this forum. It was truly invaluable to me both pre and post op as I was in for a multi-level posterior laminectomy and fusion from C3-T2 back in 2015. And I’m back here again due to issues with my lumbar spine. More on that later.

Anyway, I see that Susie recommended you view my earlier posts to get an idea of what all was involved in my surgery and recovery. Bottom line is that I am SO glad I had this done! It had been coming on for 20+ years due to degenerative disc disease. The surgery itself was complex but I had a superb neurosurgeon and an excellent team that took great care of me during the 4.5 hour process. And the recovery was way easier and faster than I had expected. I attribute this outcome not only to the expertise of my neurosurgeon but to my state of mind: total trust in the professionals on my case, being relaxed and calm as I went into the OR, and having an overall positive outlook on the whole experience. about a month before my surgery a friend who had undergone a major hip/pelvis reconstruction recommended the book: Prepare for Surgery Heal Faster by Peggy Huddleston. I will be forever so greatful to my friend Jen for this recommendation. It truly made all the difference in my outcome. Because of the mindfulness and meditation techniques, I learned how to be relaxed and confident and thus not only was my mind relaxed but my body as well. That made it a lot easier for my neurosurgeon as my muscles were relaxed and not tensed up. I was in the hospital for 4 days post op and did very well. I had the cervical collar that took some getting used to and also sleeping in a recliner. My great hubby was terrific and helped tremendously with cooking, cleaning, driving me to Dr visits, and for the first few days helped me in and out of the shower. I had the collar for 3 months and the fusion healed beautifully. I was careful not to try and do too much too fast and it really paid off. Fortunately I’m retired so there was no pressure of a job to get back to.

Anyway, it sounds like you’re on the right track so please keep us posted and feel free to ask any questions you may have. By the way, when is your surgery? We’ll be sure to send good thoughts and positive vibes.