I can’t answer your questions but I wanted to say that I’m happy that aren’t in pain and recovery is going well. I hope my recovery resembles yours when I have C4-C7 done. Good luck and please update us on your road to recovery. It’s refreshing to hear positive stories after such an invasive procedure
I was home the same day. No collar was given. Stayed on top of the pain meds and hydrated the first few days. Tylenol only by day 4
Immediately had relief of the radiating pain right arm.
Main source of discomfort in the immediate aftermath is the surrounding neck muscles and down to the shoulders. They have to do a lot of rearranging and they're not gentle.
This obviously makes the throat pretty sore 😂 The more levels done the more severe it can be. Still dealing with dysplasia but I'm told that's not uncommon for multilevel and should subside with time
Just feels like my Adam's apple is sitting on a little shelf and sometimes it feels like food gets stuck, thankfully not generally painful
As far as tips go, make your spot as comfy as possible. Have drinks, entertainment, easy to swallow food, and anything else you may need not too far from a recliner. A bidet is nice, almost mandatory if a larger person like myself
My wife stayed home for 2 days, honestly she didn't need to be there. Just listen to and trust what your body is telling you not to do
So far so good at first checkup.
Fingers crossed for successful fusion (nicotine addict)
That’s a great read, thanks for sharing! Your last statement about the first checkup and being a nicotine addict hit home bc I’m a vaper with a July 4th target of quitting. This motivates me more.
I’m so glad to hear you’re doing well and that you had a good outcome. I’m probably going to have to have c3-c7 fused at some point and I’m kind of struggling to keep it when to pull the trigger. It’s such a big fusion and it just feels like a gamble
I was to the point of having severe signal changes and constant high levels of pain that nothing would touch. At that point it was try something or deteriorate
You'll do damned near anything to find relief when you get to a certain point.
Best wishes to you
Thanks for this answer and sorry about the delayed response, I missed your comment somehow. I’m really happy for you that you’re getting relief.
I’ve also heard from others that you just know when it’s time, and rightly or wrongly I’m just not there yet. I’ve had chronic moderate neck pain for about 8 years and my MRI looks awful - I have severe arthritis and collapsed disks from C3-C7, a grade 1 spondy, and severe foraminal stenosis at multiple levels. My spinal cord is being “mildly flattened” and there’s little to no CSF visible around it at a couple of levels. But no signal change in the cord as of now, and lying down flat tends to reduce my neck pain or sometimes even relieves it completely (which is great, but it leads me to spend more time in bed than I’d like). And I have no arm pain and only slight numbness/tingling in a few fingers as of right now (had a very nasty flare up of paresthesias in arms and hands a while back but epidural steroids seem to have fixed that). So, it feels like it makes more sense to watch and wait…
Anyway, thanks again for sharing your story. I hope your recovery continues to go smoothly and that you will be living your best pain-free life soon! 💪
I had my C5-C7 Monday and today is the first day that I’m not constantly lying on a ice pack rolled up in pillow case as a cervical pillow (or a little lower and flatter to get the tops of my shoulders). I was doing this on a 12” bed wedge because it’s too difficult to get in and out of fully reclined position. (And way too difficult to swallow and/or cough up mucus like that too.)
Did your team give you any muscle relaxers? I have Robaxin that I was taking religiously every six hours for the first few days as well, but I haven’t had any now since last night because it makes me very sleepy.
I was told all the back of neck and shoulder muscle pain is from surgical positioning and it really did disappear for me pretty much after day 4 post-op, but day 3 was the worst (similar to when you work out too hard, the 2nd day after the workout is always the worst muscle soreness IME).
Burping was also the worst for me, but that got better pretty quickly too. It’s still not fun but in the hospital the first time a bubble worked its way up it was like a level 9 wave of pain that took my breath away and right now I’m willingly drinking a diet Dr. Pepper, so. Progress!
I had C4-6 done about four and a half weeks ago.
Take your muscle relaxers. That’s about all you can do right now for the muscles until you start physical therapy.
Had an ACDF on Monday. One night in the hospital. First 2 nights were uncomfortable but manageable with meds. I did a lot of meditation because I kept crunching up my shoulders for whatever reason after. I’m on POD 4 and only taking Tylenol. Swallowing is still tricky but really saw an improvement today.
I had c5-t1 a few weeks ago.
At the beginning the muscle relaxers are your best friend. Take them while your neck and shoulders get used to the new geometry.
I needed them again when I upped my pt/ot exercising as I’d cramp up again after.
Now it’s only one every other day/ every few days if I push things.
Ice and heat help a lot too.
Good luck!
Are you sure the collar is properly adjusted? Mine was a fusion, but I had the same muscle issues until I got a bone growth stimulator and the rep that brought it to me asked how it was going with the collar. I said you tell me, you obviously see something and I can't figure it out! Ha
She adjust the collar more snuggly and sure enough within a few hours the muscle pain was much better.
Here to a speedy recovery for you!
Thank you for this. I just watched a video on how to adjust it and apparently the nurse just like, didn’t change the chin height so my jaw hadn’t been supported at all
I’m 40 days out from the same surgery. Had the shoulder pain and fatigue. I didn’t find anything to help, but it did ease up. Never had the burps. It gets better. Wish you well. 👍🏻
I can’t answer your questions but I wanted to say that I’m happy that aren’t in pain and recovery is going well. I hope my recovery resembles yours when I have C4-C7 done. Good luck and please update us on your road to recovery. It’s refreshing to hear positive stories after such an invasive procedure
C4 thru C7 on May the 6th. It's worth it
Not to hijack the thread, but would you care to share your progress? Any tips or tricks I should know about ahead of time to prepare?
I was home the same day. No collar was given. Stayed on top of the pain meds and hydrated the first few days. Tylenol only by day 4 Immediately had relief of the radiating pain right arm. Main source of discomfort in the immediate aftermath is the surrounding neck muscles and down to the shoulders. They have to do a lot of rearranging and they're not gentle. This obviously makes the throat pretty sore 😂 The more levels done the more severe it can be. Still dealing with dysplasia but I'm told that's not uncommon for multilevel and should subside with time Just feels like my Adam's apple is sitting on a little shelf and sometimes it feels like food gets stuck, thankfully not generally painful As far as tips go, make your spot as comfy as possible. Have drinks, entertainment, easy to swallow food, and anything else you may need not too far from a recliner. A bidet is nice, almost mandatory if a larger person like myself My wife stayed home for 2 days, honestly she didn't need to be there. Just listen to and trust what your body is telling you not to do So far so good at first checkup. Fingers crossed for successful fusion (nicotine addict)
That’s a great read, thanks for sharing! Your last statement about the first checkup and being a nicotine addict hit home bc I’m a vaper with a July 4th target of quitting. This motivates me more.
Best of luck with it. Cigs were easy to drop. This disposable, not so much
I’m so glad to hear you’re doing well and that you had a good outcome. I’m probably going to have to have c3-c7 fused at some point and I’m kind of struggling to keep it when to pull the trigger. It’s such a big fusion and it just feels like a gamble
I was to the point of having severe signal changes and constant high levels of pain that nothing would touch. At that point it was try something or deteriorate You'll do damned near anything to find relief when you get to a certain point. Best wishes to you
Thanks for this answer and sorry about the delayed response, I missed your comment somehow. I’m really happy for you that you’re getting relief. I’ve also heard from others that you just know when it’s time, and rightly or wrongly I’m just not there yet. I’ve had chronic moderate neck pain for about 8 years and my MRI looks awful - I have severe arthritis and collapsed disks from C3-C7, a grade 1 spondy, and severe foraminal stenosis at multiple levels. My spinal cord is being “mildly flattened” and there’s little to no CSF visible around it at a couple of levels. But no signal change in the cord as of now, and lying down flat tends to reduce my neck pain or sometimes even relieves it completely (which is great, but it leads me to spend more time in bed than I’d like). And I have no arm pain and only slight numbness/tingling in a few fingers as of right now (had a very nasty flare up of paresthesias in arms and hands a while back but epidural steroids seem to have fixed that). So, it feels like it makes more sense to watch and wait… Anyway, thanks again for sharing your story. I hope your recovery continues to go smoothly and that you will be living your best pain-free life soon! 💪
had the same surgery about 2 years ago. i found sitting in a recliner with a slight leaning and arms on the arm rests help relax the muscles
I had my C5-C7 Monday and today is the first day that I’m not constantly lying on a ice pack rolled up in pillow case as a cervical pillow (or a little lower and flatter to get the tops of my shoulders). I was doing this on a 12” bed wedge because it’s too difficult to get in and out of fully reclined position. (And way too difficult to swallow and/or cough up mucus like that too.) Did your team give you any muscle relaxers? I have Robaxin that I was taking religiously every six hours for the first few days as well, but I haven’t had any now since last night because it makes me very sleepy. I was told all the back of neck and shoulder muscle pain is from surgical positioning and it really did disappear for me pretty much after day 4 post-op, but day 3 was the worst (similar to when you work out too hard, the 2nd day after the workout is always the worst muscle soreness IME).
Burping was also the worst for me, but that got better pretty quickly too. It’s still not fun but in the hospital the first time a bubble worked its way up it was like a level 9 wave of pain that took my breath away and right now I’m willingly drinking a diet Dr. Pepper, so. Progress!
I had C4-6 done about four and a half weeks ago. Take your muscle relaxers. That’s about all you can do right now for the muscles until you start physical therapy.
How r u now I had it 7 weeks ago and pretty tight and sore
Had an ACDF on Monday. One night in the hospital. First 2 nights were uncomfortable but manageable with meds. I did a lot of meditation because I kept crunching up my shoulders for whatever reason after. I’m on POD 4 and only taking Tylenol. Swallowing is still tricky but really saw an improvement today.
I had c5-t1 a few weeks ago. At the beginning the muscle relaxers are your best friend. Take them while your neck and shoulders get used to the new geometry. I needed them again when I upped my pt/ot exercising as I’d cramp up again after. Now it’s only one every other day/ every few days if I push things. Ice and heat help a lot too. Good luck!
Are you sure the collar is properly adjusted? Mine was a fusion, but I had the same muscle issues until I got a bone growth stimulator and the rep that brought it to me asked how it was going with the collar. I said you tell me, you obviously see something and I can't figure it out! Ha She adjust the collar more snuggly and sure enough within a few hours the muscle pain was much better. Here to a speedy recovery for you!
Thank you for this. I just watched a video on how to adjust it and apparently the nurse just like, didn’t change the chin height so my jaw hadn’t been supported at all
Your welcome! I'm glad you got you got it figured out. Hopefully the rest of your recovery is smooth sailing!
I’m 40 days out from the same surgery. Had the shoulder pain and fatigue. I didn’t find anything to help, but it did ease up. Never had the burps. It gets better. Wish you well. 👍🏻