Quote:
Originally Posted by sfen
Hi.
I am on 6 days post acdf c6/c7. I finally slept last night laying down. I have 2 memory foam pillows stacked up, and slept with my back against the back of the sofa and slightly slanted on my side. i woke up with my incision a little bit tugged and in a minor amount of pain but i slept!! The cervical u-shaped pillow is too tall for sleeping flat, but the two pillows stacked are perfect for sleeping on my side.
Otherwise, I feel great! No more headache. No more arm pain, numbness or tinglies. I think my biggest problem will be resisting temptation to do things i'm not supposed to do. I was very anxious that this would be too painful to bear, and it was quite the opposite. I still don't have any voice, and have troubles swallowing fluids without aspirating (i can drink slowly) but i believe it will come back eventually. I feel very positive about the whole thing.
My big question now is, how still do I have to keep my head to promote fusing? Can I lean over at all? With plate and screws, isn't the neck fairly stable? I am not required to wear a cervical collar at all.
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I am shocked at how different drs are. My neurosurgeon had me in a hard cervical collar for 8-1/2 weeks post ACDF with titanium plate c5,c6,c7. I was dying to get out of it and couldn't hold my head up once I was finally cleared to take it off. I still wear my soft collar for pain relief when my neck gets sore andmy surgery was last march.
Resist all your temptations and give your body time to heal. You will be grateful in the long run!
Cathie
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