[QUOTE=pcolbu;235373]Hi all,

I am having my surgery this Friday. Three level ACDF of C5,6 and T1. I am 45 male in great physical condition. Not sure how I hurt myself, but apparently had this herniation for awhile. This is something that I am not looking forward to and may not drive myself to the hospital. Can anyone encourage me to get this done. I'm not in pain most of the time, only experiencing neck pain when playing sports and prolong sitting or walking. I have a lot of muscle spasm in chest and arms and finger numbness. I just want to get back to my normal life style of weight lifting, biking and hiking.

Phil[/QUOTE

Phil...I had no choice but to do my three level (c4-c7) acdf surgery as I had 65% impingement on my spinal cord following a routine (then again not so routine) gallbladder removal. I had the two surgeries within two weeks of each other. I was really in no pain before the acdf and was really recovering well for the first 8 weeks. Then I think I did too much too soon. I went back to work after three weeks and was feeding my farm animals after 6 weeks. Since about the 8 week mark postoperatively, I have had some problems. I am now doing PT twice a week and some days are better than others. I return to my surgeon 12-9-11 so I am going to see what he says. I was cleared to do all I was doing, but I think even if you are cleared to do what you want, you really need to listen to your body. It certainly will let you know if you are doing too much too soon! Best of luck and be sure to keep one up on the pain and get plenty of rest!

MB