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Member
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Paradise
Posts: 855
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Paradise
Posts: 855
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frenchfri1003
Hi to all.
I am 4 1/2 months post-op at this time. I am pleased that once the day gets started and I have completed my exercises I have decent ROM to the left and down a bit more limited right and very limited up. My strength is still poor. Generally I use 2 lb weight at home to complete exercises. There is one that I use a 5 lb weight for. My son still carries the heavy groceries and the laundry basket. If I try to do either then I will suffer with neck pain, tightness, knots or tingling in my shoulder blade region and muscle spasms. When does this end? I want to be able to complete every day activities without worrying about how I will feel. As stupid as it sounds I want to be able to clean the bathroom thoroughly including scrubbing the tub and really washing my floors. Tired of the superficial cleaning. I would also like to be able to plant a vegetable garden and my flowers. I guess I am just feeling sorry for myself. I know others have it much worse than I do. I am also concerned about levels above and below the fusion. I know that everyone heals at different rates....
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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)
4/15/2011 Home Tens Unit
Dealt with the pain and issues for more than 5 years
tried PT, chiropractic, acupuncture, cervical epidural shots and selective nerve root blocks prior to surgery
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Hi,
It really sounds like you are doing fairly well at 4 1/2 months S/P 3 (vertebral level) fusion. That is a rather big surgery and it WILL just simply take awhile before you plateau. I had a C5-6 fusion and I can say that at 4 1/2 months, I was still sore, stiff and with very weak neck muscles. For those who realize improvement, they say that at 15 months, that you will be about as good as you get. For me that was pretty much true. I am 3 1/2 yrs S/P fusion and am certainly better than before the surgery but no where near perfect. I am happy though with regards to the neck outcome.
In so far as wearing out the levels adjacent to the fusion, conventional wisdom and simple logic would suggest that more stress would be transferred there. Could be, but on the other hand there was a study published a year or two ago that found that accellerated degenerative changes adjacent to a fusion did not experience with any greater frequency than non-surgical controls. Doesn't really matter though since you are fused now, does it?! Can't really undo the surgery!
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