OT - Anybody here had neck surgery?

Brace needed or not depends on the extent of the surgery involved. Disc replacement only with a bit of bone is just one of many different procedures that can be done and it is very likely that, as long as the basic supporting structure of the cervical spine is not compromised, no brace is needed.

Braces are needed when the supporting structure is compromised in some fashion. In my case C4 and C5 vertebrae themselves were removed and donor bone replacements inserted in their place along with a 4 inch long supporting plate. One day outpatient surgery. Wore a neck brace for about 4 weeks till new bone and plate were strong and stable.

As with any medical treatment, there is no hard fast rule that encompasses 100% of the population. You have heard from several people who have had some sort of cervical spine surgery but we don't know exactly which surgery was done and how it compares to what you are going to have done. Sounds like Ellen had some very extensive surgery indeed and probably the supporting structure of the spine was affected, thus the need for the brace. In my case my discs were long gone and my problem was that the 2 vertebrae themselves were unstable and had slipped and were pressing on the spinal column. We had to fix the unstable spine and not worry about the discs.

I don't think we have been comparing apples to apples here. Too many variables to give you anything more than generalities. Regarding pain, again all depends on what is to be done and what your pain threshold is. I woke up in the recovery room in pain but thinking "this isn't as bad as the pain I had before the surgery" and it wasn't. Yes, it hurt but even immediately post op, not nearly as bad as the pain I had dealt with daily for years. I wouldn't be surprised if you donate your own bone, that you don't complain more about the donation site though. I have heard that takes longer to heal. I wasn't given that option. Too much bone was needed to harvest from my body, so we had to use an alternate source.

How will this affect your CPAP treatment? I cannot comment as I have no experience yet, but I soon will have. We will see how my limited movement in my cervical spine affects my newly diagnosed sleep apnea as I have the titration sleep study scheduled for next week.

Your surgeon will explain any limitations and time frames based on what he actually ends up doing to alleviate your particular problem.

I do wish you the best of luck and I hope you take time to come back and let everyone know how things went.

For me, I will register here one day soon and post my sleep apnea story and questions as soon as I have more information available and the question arise.

Brenda

OK, had my pre-op stuff today and I know more.

Will probably spend one night in the hospital in that they are doing two disc and I live in a small town 60 miles from this hospital. When I can walk, pee, swallow, and breathe right, I'm free to go.

No driving for 10-14 days. Will be on pain meds and muscle relaxers for a while after the fact. No bending over, no twisting, and can't lift anything over 10 lbs for 6 weeks. Sounds like it's gonna be rougher than I thought.

There was a lady in the office than had had the surgery two weeks earlier and she didn't look bad at all, so probably a rough week and then trying to take it easy for 5 weeks.

Happens Friday afternoon.


JeffH