I understand about having to keep up with kids. Mine are 8 and 4. The biggest adjustment to my four year old is that I can't carry her anymore. She is 40 lbs.

The reason my neurosurgeon chose to do 3 levels is because c4-5 and c6-7 were both herniated and touching the cord. These levels would not have held up and if I didn't take care of them now, he told me I would be back within a few years. Not a desirable idea for me. There has also been research done that shows adjacent segment disease is actually lower in multilevel fusion patients than their counterparts having a one level fusion. I'm hoping this will prove true in my case. I am in physical therapy and my range of motion is coming back. I was told on the whole, I would lose about 20% which should only be noticeable to me and not anyone else. My half marathon days are over but right now I average walking 3-5 miles about 5 timers per week. I've also added body weight squats, lunges and leg raises back in. With time, I should be able to do most things. I won't be able to do Insanity dvd's because of how high impact it is, but I wasn't doing that before. I should be able to do strength training and cardio but will always have to be mindful of my spine and make modifications where needed.

Again, good luck.

Try to get that other opinion just the same. If your doctor is already telling you there may be more surgery in your future, my own opinion is I would push to have it all done at once. Your mobility will NOT change doing another level. It may prevent serious deterioration of C5-6. If that one isn't strong enough for the hardware, I would be just a bit concerned. There is alot of pressure with hardware. I sure hope this all works out for you. I am sorry you have to go through any of it. Don't hesitate to look up all the findings you have on google as well. Look into the kind of hardware that will be used. There are all kinds, some of them have better reputations that others. No steel, but titanium is one thing I found out about. Titanium is the only one the body does not try to reject. You bones will actually join with it for stability. Are you going to have disks replaced with your own bone, or donar bone? ginnie