Quote:
Originally Posted by frenchfri1003
Well, with all of my fighting with insurance I got a whopping 6 additional sessions of PT. Starting right now with PT and trying to set up a detailed after care or at home program so I am not caught off guard. When I get the TENS unit the PT and the OSS said they would help me out. Still waiting to hear from the durable medical portion of my insurance plan. It is 4 months today that I had my surgery. Definitely glad that I had the surgery, just didn't realize the long recovery period. Silly me. ROM is pretty good, left and down, later in the day the right catches up. Going up or ear to shoulder is limited as is my strength. Still get muscle spasms, knots in my shoulders and down to my shoulder blades. At times I get the burning feeling from shoulder to shoulder (not pleasant). I just keep reminding myself this is treatable and took more than 5 years to finally have the surgery and it may take a year or more to get myself back to where I want to be.
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12/9/2010 ACDF C5-6 C6-7 with plate, screws,
BMP & bone fragment filled cages
2/14/2011 trying to go back to work as a teacher
2/17/2011 starting PT
wearing bone stimulator 4 hours a day
DDD, arthritis, herniated disks, pinched nerves
3 months saw a little bit of bone growth (YEAH)
4/9/2011 ROM much better, still achy and stiff in the am
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thank you for writing that, the great thing about this forum is to read what others are going through and realize you're not alone (and that I'm normal.. LOL)
I'm at the 5 week post op mark, and was really starting to get frustrated at how long it was taking me to heal. I'm a little stronger everyday, but I still have pain. Reading your post and seeing that you are still not back to your usual self at the 4 month mark reminds me how long it actually takes to heal from this surgery. I'm probably pretty normal in my recovery then.
Thanks for the post, good luck with your PT, take lots of notes so you can do them yourself at home afterwards!!
Let me know how the tens works for you, I was thinking of requesting one for myself after my follow up with the surgeon in 3 weeks.
Cheers ~ here's to happy healing for both of us
Cathie