Hi minnasota girl, sorry you are having trouble with your cervical spine. I have had two surgeries on my cervical spine, and am now fused C3-7. When I was first having problems, I went for several different opinions before I had the surgery. Of course I didn't want to live on pain medications eithor, and I was not real fond of the idea of surgery. I especially didn't want the second surgery. Please consider all your options carefully before any decision is made. I went to several different kinds of specialists while I was being evaluated. In my case, I had no choice if I wanted quality of life. Surgery is really the last thing you want to do if at all possible. I would try all other recommendations first. My surgery did wind up working for me, and it was the right thing to do, to seek out all the other opinions. ginnie