Glad to hear things are going well for you! I had a C4-7 ACDF in Nov 2011 and had a pretty good experience as well with it. I still have some pain from time to time, but it's much better than it was before. I did not have a collar, but did make sure I slept with my neck straight, which wasn't easy since I was always a side sleeper with lots of pillows! Even now I still try to make sure I don't sleep with my head "kinked"... I did go to physical therapy at the 8 week point and was given several stretching excerices to work on. It helped a lot. I find that when I do have pain now, it's because I've gone a long time without doing them and once I restart the pain gets better. It sounds like you might spend a lot of time at the computer as I do and corrections to my posture and the exercises made a huge difference. I haven't been given any long term restrictions for the neck (the lower and upper back is different!). I just try to be smart about what I do and be careful about turning my head too far to either side.

Re the scar, maderma works well, but so does pure vitamin E oil and it's less expensive. I started out with maderma and then changed to E oil at a friend's suggestion and my scar is barely noticable. I put it on twice a day for about 3 mos or so.

Good luck with your recovery and keep us posted!
Leigh Ann