I had symptoms for a longtime and ignored them until the damage to my nerves may be irreversible. I shouldn't have waited so long, especially when I was advised to have the surgery 10 years ago. I'm a very young appearing 52 year old, but my insides appear much older. The neurologist who saw me said that they only see this level of nerve damage in 80 year olds, which prompted me to have the surgery.

I had severe foraminal narrowing at C4-5 and stenosis, as well as significant signs of nerve damage, so I had an anterior fusion at that level to relieve the pressure on those nerves and they removed the hardware from my previous ACDF on C6-7. I have severe degenerative disc disease throughout my spine and had a fusion in the lumbar area as well.

I also work full-time and have chronic pain, but I have a great team of doctors. I had to kiss a few frogs along the way,but finally found the right ones. I was disabled for 2 years, but went back to work as a nurse 8 years ago with the help of pain management.