C5-7 you do have damage. Repair is a good idea, when the situtaion says severe, and cord impingment. One of my concerns is that with doing just those few, you will be setting yourself up for more surgery in the future. The verterbre above the surgery site and below the surgery site need to be strong enough and healthy enough to support the hardware. You need to ask your doctor about this. It is also called the domino effect. I also hope you got more than one opinion, from a neuro surgeon. I am sorry you are facing this. I also offer some hope. This can turn out OK, I had origional surgery at C6-7, had the domino effect, and am now fused C3-7. I have NO regrets doing this last surgery. I am in pretty good shape with just moderate pain. Very tolerable. I also did alot of PT in the last several years. I wish you the very best outcome. We will all be here for you. ginnie