I had acdf surgery on c4-c7 four months ago. I had a spinal cord injury while having my gallbladder removed. I had 65% compression on my spinal cord which paralyzed my left arm and leg. I contracted a strep b infection in the hospital and had to wait 12 days before my acdf surgery to repair the damage. The first eight weeks after my acdf surgery I did surprisingly well. I returned to work (as a behavior class middle school teacher) three weeks after my surgery. I wore a soft collar and had no residual numbness anywhere. I refrained from lifting and bending for another month and then got the all clear from my OS. My bone is fusing well.

At the eight weeks post op, I began experiencing pain lower in my neck, below the c7 surgical point and some intermittent numbness returning in my my left hand, arm, leg, and even tingling up the left side of my neck and into the back of my head. I had not had any pain prior to my surgery...just the numbness and weakness.

I have had follow MRI's and even a second opinion with another OS that actually treats our local NFL team and everything looks great to him. I have experienced toothache like pain in my left arm, leg, neck area, and even the sensation of my right hand falling asleep (pins and needles) upon waking. I also have had some nausea and lack of apetitie. Has anyone else experienced these types of post operative problems after ACDF surgery? Is this normal? All my doctors seemed unconcerned. I was a really active person prior to this surgery and now I feel like I am nowhere near my prior self even with my PT I have been doing for the past month.


Thanks!

MB