Hi all

I wanted to share my experience thus far as information on C5 palsy seems scarce and what IS out there contain various prognosis and outcomes.
I've read many stories on this horrible dilema, some uplifting and some make me feel quite fortunate I'm at where I am.

I had a posterior laminectomy at C5-C6 Oct. 2016 to remedy extreme spinal cord compression which was stealing my leg function as well as effecting both arms in very negative ways(numbness, coordination, strength)...
I would lose touch with my feet as if they were'nt even there.
Could move them if I thought about it but it was as they if they didn't exist, especially when driving...SCARY!

Any ways, after surgery that night in bed and unbelievable pain, I experienced just ripping, burning, unbearable type pain across my left shoulder.
Long story short, next day my left deltoids were completely dead as was a portion of my bicep and also the radial muscle that runs from your bicep across the top of the forearm and into the wrist...

My neurosurgeon sent me immediately for another MRI to be sure there were no problems with the fusion or hardware shift (rods and screws) and the MRI looked GREAT, spinal cord completely decompressed was the good news, most likely severe tethering of the nerve root, bad news and causing what he explained to me as being something called C5 Palsy...

Without getting too windy here I just want to quickly sum up how things progressed and hopefully this will lift some you out theres spirits.

MONTH 1: Pure hell, just the horrible pain one would expect from a posterior approach to the spine, a place my NS said God did not want us to be .
Around day 30, pain was starting to get less with plenty of Norco but the left arm and deltoids were useless mostly. Could not hold a dinner plate, a pot of coffee. Couldnt even throw the blankets off my body without the other arm. Had to get creative to learn to pull up my pants. Putting a tee shirt on was a joke. I feel for some of you out there. I've read your stories, I at least had a fairly healthy right arm with all the normal pains, numbness, tingle of course, but functional.
C5 palsy is not just physically debilitating, but emotionally devastating.
I was soo depressed...
I'm a 55 year old in good shape, 180lb, 5-10, and work on an underground crew which demands strength and agility...I felt like this was all gone and I was doomed.

MONTH 2: Pain was still present and getting out of bed was a little easier.
BIZZARO! So I was sitting on the couch watching a movie with my girlfriend and BTW my savior as she has helped me so much!...and out of the blue I got this painful JOLT shoot across my left shoulder. Much like the first night after surgery. Something felt different though, I looked at my girl and said "Babe, something weird just happened"...So I stood up and started moving things around a little to see if there were any changes. Just like they say, there will be some spontaneous resolve at times. It dawned on me that my forward deltoid was firing. I could lift my arm so much easier, not without lots of drag mind you as the rear deltoid was still dead, but I realized later that night as well as in the morning that putting a tee shirt on and off became almost effortless.
I want t mention that at this point I started a physical therapy program (very light) just to keep the range of motion going...VERY IMPORTANT
I got a little cocky even at the end of month 2 and thought I could chop a little firewood as it was December now...MISTAKE...I was so worried that I may have fouled up my fusion due to pain and what not...
IMPORTANT: Take it all real easy, lots of rest, physical therapy and patience.
PS...a little Norco and an occasional beer didn't hurt either!

MONTH 3: So January 2017 came...Happy New Year!
Still doing physical therapy, BTW this was all done at home after an initial visit to a PT guy and had some direction.
I've been pushing some light weights as my NS has given me the go ahead to push 30 lbs as my last xray looked good regarding fusion.
My left arm is still very weak and deltoid in the rear is not firing.
I must say though, that I've been experiencing alot of nerve burners on my left shoulder deltoid area and alot of muscle spasm at the failing bicep and forearm...I'm convinced that this is nerve regeneration going on as its a very slow process and even slower depending on how bad your initial nerve damage may of been during surgery. Why do I say this?

Today is Feb. 2017...Over the last week I have had the following improvement
Three weeks ago I could only curl a 1lb weight with my left arm due to the forearm and bicep failure...today, for the first time I curled a 5lb bar, 3 sets, 10 reps. I look at my forearm and can actually SEE the muscle flexing where there were was nothing a week ago. Its firing, but weak. More PT!!!
Its like they say, spontaneous resolve can happen...
Today during my PT session, I could feel ease in lifting with the rear deltoid;
I think its slowly coming back now as well...my NS told me that MOST C5 palsy cases will resolve within 3-6 months...
All I can say to everyone is stay positive, do any physical therapy you can, and believe that will get better because it can...

I'm going to keep working on strength now and will go back to work April 4th on a months light duty to start...I'll stay in touch...any feedback, questions from you all experiencing this what I call, "streak of bad luck" will be answered if you'd like....Take care all for now...Tim