Welcome to Neuro Talk. I am glad you found this site. We can do alot here to help you through this process of surgery. I am neck woman, having two cervial fusions, so I happen to be one who can help you a bit. I do know how scarry this is. I came to Neruo talk the same way you are doing, frightened, crying, in pain, not knowing what to expect. I do not think I could have gone through my second fusion, without the good folks here. Once I had this done, I stayed with this site, to give back the help I received.
I hope before you have the fusion, that you did all your homework. That means a second opinion in another specility field, such as orthopedic and Neurosurgery. I did not do this for my first cervial fusion. I was too in a hurry to be done with the pain. I paid a big price for that six years later. I wound up with a second even more difficult at C3-7.
That is the reason why I ask if you had that second opinion. Sometimes when the spine is damaged, the verterbre above and below have trouble that is not always evident at first. You want to ask specifically if the rest of your neck looks good, and that you understand your MRI.
The people here can help you if there is something on it that you don't understand.
As far as the pain goes, that is so individual. Do talk to your doctor about pain issues after the surgery, and what pain meds. you wills be allowed at home. I did just fine with C6-7, with good recovery time, and physicial therapy. However my second fusion was much more difficult to get through.
I did need help with meals, and my home for a few weeks with that. I hope you have a good support team to give you a hand. I wore a soft neck collar with both surgeries. I also recommend you try different sleep positions. I use a raised wedge still to this day. I will be here for you. You can PM me at any time and I will try to answer any questions you have. It will be OK. You can get through this. My bp was sky high too, ask for a medication or let your doctor know that this is effecting your BP. I needed help with that too. I wish you all the best in this, and again a warm welcome to Neruo Talk. ginnie