A week ago I saw in this thread the posting from Linda. after joining I saw the others. I had anterior cervical discetomy C4-C5 & C5-C6 with fusion. When I woke up from surgery I could not move either shoulder. I have some function from the elbows down but zero at the shoulders that will help in my daily life. 3 almost 4 weeks out of surgery where I was told and I quote "the national average for ccomplications is 1% but mine is 0%" and no discussion at all that this could happen I have had to fight for services. I was released to home with no visiting nurses lined up, I had to fight with the surgeon to even get therapy and now he is saying well it could take a year or more to fix! I have leave from my jobs til March 25th so needless to say with no income coming in I need to get better quick. I have contacted a lawyer due to the lack of concern on the doctors part. I was up front with him that I had suffered the pain getting worse over 16 yrs, that I knew about the disc degeneration I had, that I had had steroid shots over the years that obviously havent worked etc. The least he could have done was be up front with me but obviously he was nat expecting this complication and in fact has tried to say that I must have been weak before the surgery. Grrrrr. I have started OT and need to get to the point where I can dress myself and drive so that I can go out of home for more aggressive therapy. It is crucial that I regain the use of my arms because my job requires me to be physical. Heres to getting better.