I had acdf surgery level 3 on June 24th and the first two weeks the pain was intense which of course is natural it is part of the recovery and healing process. Recently the pain has not gotten any better and I have been dropping things like I did before the surgery. In my case I had degenerative disc disease in the cervical and some in the thoracic two herniated disc and two bone spurs. When they did surgery they found that my neck was a lot more damaged than the MRI showed. They had to take an extra hour and half of surgery. My case I needed to have surgery and the higher the level the lesser the chance it will fuse. Even though my pain is still intense if I had to do it over again I would because the surgeon said that even a minor accident could have left me a lot more worse if I didn't have the surgery. My follow up is in August. A level two surgery the fusion rate is between 85-90% and I have heard people who have had one surgery and fusion that last 20 plus years. The tingle and numbness in my arms are not completely gone but better. I think with the level two fusion you will have a much better rate of fusion than myself. I would opt to really think about it do more research on the procedure. But all in all I would really think about having the surgery. Hope this helps and hope that you feel better soon. Please don't hesitate to ask me more any questions I will do my best to answer them for you.
Dave