Cervical Discectomy - Anyone had one?

WilliamM2

I've had left shoulder and neck pain for a little over two years now. I could tolerate it most days, had Norco for the rough days. They did an MRI and CT scan two years ago, and decided it wasn't bad enough for surgery, which I thought was a good thing. They did lots of physical therapy, spinal injections, cortisone shots, etc., none of this seemed to help at all though.

Three weeks ago I got a pinched nerve. The pain was so bad in my neck and right arm, that they have me on 5 15mg oxycodones a day, and it still hurts, although it is much better than with no meds. Went in for an MRI last Sunday since there had been no improvement, when the doc got the results Tuesday, he immediate sent me to a neurosurgeon the next day. It showed two herniated disc's, one is so large that it has blocked over two thirds of the spinal cord, and obviously severely pinched a nerve. Apparently it's been going on going a while, I've lost 60% of the strength in my right arm, and it has almost no reflex at all. Odd thing is, I never even noticed the lack of strength.

The neurosurgeon informed me that if it blocks the spinal cord much more, I will be paralyzed, and I must have immediate surgery, he wouldn't let me put if off even a week. He said that fusing a disc puts more strain on the disc above and below the fusion. Since the disc above is already slightly herniated, he will be doing a double cervical discectomy with bone grafts from my hip and hardware on C5/6 and C6/7. They are doing it tomorrow at 6:00am.

I already know that I will be off work for 4 to 6 weeks, and am told I will have a sore throat for up to a week and will be on soft foods.

My questions to anyone who's had this done is, how bad is the recovery? How bad was the hip pain from the bone removal? How long before you could have solid foods? Was it successfully the first time? I'm told there is a 98% chance that the arm pain will disappear immediately, and the neck will be sore, but the pain should be gone in a week or so, assuming there is no permanent nerve damage.

The worst part is, I have to quit smoking for at least 3 to 6 months. Fusion failure rates for smokers is 48%, compared to 8% for those that quit after surgery. The nicotine hinders bone growth and fusion. That means I have to quit without nicotine gum, patches, or any method that has nicotine in it. Since I'll be off work, unable to do anything for a month with nothing really to occupy my mind, I think this may be very difficult. Anyone know of another method to help quitting without nicotine?

Thanks.

dorokusai

Email Shawn474. He's my neighbor, has had that surgery and swears by the results.

WilliamM2

dorokusai wrote: »

Email Shawn474. He's my neighbor and has had that surgery and swears by the results.

Good to hear his went well, since I really have no choice anyways.

NJPOLKER

And I thought my rotator cuff injury was bad. Good luck William. My advice is to stop smoking and drink more.

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

We might not agree on some things, William, but sorry to hear this. I know all too well the pain associated with issues like this and it sucks eggs. I had fractured the C2 cervical disc in my neck had to have it fused. I would get headaches so bad that I felt I was going to pass out at times. I had decided to quit smoking just a couple months before my surgery. Quitting is not easy and I failed several times before I finally did it. I ate lots of apples and munched on carrot sticks when I got the urge to smoke. Drinking lots and lots of water helps also. Flushes out the nicotine in your body and makes you feel full, but be prepared to put on a few pounds still. Other than this, I can only recommend you rely on your will power. Just get it in your mind to quit and when you do, stay that way. A year from now you'll be surprised as to how much better you feel if you do. Good luck.

I had tried to delay the surgery so that I could quit smoking for at least 10 days first, because studies have shown that I would then have a higher success rate (same as a non smoker), by getting the nicotine out of my system. But the neurosurgeon says it's too risky to wait that long. Hopefully fear of failure alone will give me enough willpower. The wieght gain is a bummer, I've lost 24 pounds since June. Oh well.

WilliamM2

NJPOLKER wrote: »

And I thought my rotator cuff injury was bad. Good luck William. My advice is to stop smoking and drink more.

I hope you don't mean drink alcohol? I never touch the stuff, never cared for it. Not to mention I'll be on narcotics.

NJPOLKER

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I hope you don't mean drink alcohol? I never touch the stuff, never cared for it. Not to mention I'll be on narcotics.

The alcohol works better with narcotics LMAO :D
Now I really know what your problem is LMFAO now.



I really do wish you the best with this situation.

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

LOL! When I quit smoking I quit drinking to. I quess it's because I associated the two....William, think about all the dough you'll save by quitting. Just imagine all that money you could use to put towards new gear.

I wish I had that incentive, but I roll my own, at $0.80 a pack it's less than a dollar a day. I bought 50 lbs. before they hiked the price last March, and planned on quitting when it ran out anyways. I guess I can sell the 23 pounds I have left to help cover medical expenses. They just changed our insurance in November to a $5,000 deductable, $10,000 max out of pocket.:(

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

The risk of becoming paralyzed should be incentive enough. Right?

There's no risk of paralyzation once the disc is removed, just the risk of the fusion failing. That's what I meant by the risk of failure hopefully giving me the willpower. I agree.

Ricardo

As long as you make sure they are using good cables and power cords in all the electronic equipment, you should be ok.

Good luck. Sometimes surgery is the best way to go.

Tony M

Good Luck with your surgery tomorrow.

I find it appauling that we have to search elsewhere for our answers to vital questions concerning our surgeries. I truly believe doctors don't tell us **** so there will be LESS ammunition incase something goes wrong and a lawsuit might seem justifiable.

It's really strange to me the doctors know all about why we need these surguries but provide almost no information concerning the after effects.

I'm getting to the age where I will switch doctors if they don't give the care I expect. There's too many doctors out there. Find one who cares about us and not just getting a surgery scheduled on his/her books.

Again. I feel a litte of what your feeling in your neck area and pray all goes well on your sugery and recovery.
About quiting smoking , there is a long thread that alot of us put our thoughts into to help a fellow Polkie just a few months ago. Search it out if you can. Alot of great info is there.

hearingimpared

Good luck with your surgery and quitting smoking William. I'll add you to our prayer list.

Just to bust your balls a little, when I quite smoking for three years I gained 70lbs!:eek: Then after over three years of being nicotine free I started up again and let me tell you it is 100 times harder to quit again. Once you put them down don't ever pick up not even one.

I hope your pain eases and things go well.

heiney9

Good luck William and with all your down time you can distract yourself from smoking by finally testing all kinds of I/C's, speaker cables and power cables.

H9

Amherst

My best wishes are with you. Hope to see you posting good news in a few days, if not sooner!:)

Face

As someone who also deals with chronic back pain, I feel for you.

Best of luck!

As for your tobacco stash, just throw it out so there's no temptation.

cfrizz

Best of luck to you.

WilliamM2

Ricardo wrote: »

As long as you make sure they are using good cables and power cords in all the electronic equipment, you should be ok.

Good luck. Sometimes surgery is the best way to go.

The cables look pretty standard, but I did notice hospital grade power outlets everywhere.;)

WilliamM2

hearingimpared wrote: »

Just to bust your balls a little, when I quite smoking for three years I gained 70lbs!:eek: Then after over three years of being nicotine free I started up again and let me tell you it is 100 times harder to quit again. Once you put them down don't ever pick up not even one.

I know, I did quit once for 9 months back in 1993, haven't had the ambition to try again since. I did only gain 10 pounds that time though.

WilliamM2

tony millard wrote: »

I find it appauling that we have to search elsewhere for our answers to vital questions concerning our surgeries. I truly believe doctors don't tell us **** so there will be LESS ammunition incase something goes wrong and a lawsuit might seem justifiable.

I don't really blame the doctor for not giving me all the info I wanted, it's just been going too fast. Tuesday I went over the MRI results with the pain management doctor I have been seeing for a year (he ordered the MRI) and he made an appointment with the surgeon for next week, but the surgeon looked at the MRI results, called me at work Wednesday and said get in here now! Then Thursday was spent getting pre-surgery x-rays and blood tests at the hospital, Friday an appointment with my regular doctor for a physical and EKG to insure I was in shape for surgery. This whole thing has been arranged in just three days.

WilliamM2

Face wrote: »

As for your tobacco stash, just throw it out so there's no temptation.

Current value of that stash at $60 a pound is $1400, not to mention another $200 worth of tubes. No way it's going to be thrown away. I'll either sell it cheap or give it away first.

WilliamM2

heiney9 wrote: »

Good luck William and with all your down time you can distract yourself from smoking by finally testing all kinds of I/C's, speaker cables and power cables.

H9

You seem to keep forgetting that I have already done that, no need to do it again. Besides, I'm restricted to lifting no more than 5 lbs. until cleared to return to work. The rack alone weighs well over 200 lbs., doesn't move very easily on shag carpet, and then I would have to move the SDA's as well. No thanks.

schwarcw

Good luck William! I have you in my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery!

Fireman32

Good luck William. I tried quitting many times and failed and then one day I said I was done and havent picked one up in over 3 years and its the best thing I ever did. Food tastes so much better and I feel alot better and have alot more energy. The main thing is you get better. That should be the incentive to quit.

Tony M

William, I'm sorry all this came down on you so fast...Alot happening all of a sudden I see.

Having to quit smoking now is quite a challenge. Best of luck in that regard.I smoked for 24 yrs. and then went cold turkey 10 years ago so it can be done.;)

I'll pray for you tonight and you'll be in my thoughts tomorrow too.;)

Face

More incentive to quit: http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS310&=&q=smoking+and+hearing+loss&aq=0&aqi=g2g-m1&oq=smoking+and+heari

SCompRacer

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and kicking that smoking thing William!

hearingimpared

Face wrote: »

More incentive to quit: http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS310&=&q=smoking+and+hearing+loss&aq=0&aqi=g2g-m1&oq=smoking+and+heari

Oh crap!

potee

You can quit I know you can it gets easier as time goes by. I did 3 packs of lucky strikes a day for over 30 years, Went cold turkey 16 years ago. Good Luck.

Your gonna do it!!!!

snow

Good Luck with the surgery and the quitting smoking. My back hurts just reading about the surgery but better off doing it now than risking paralysis later.



REGARDS SNOW

WilliamM2

Thanks for the well wishes. I not too worried about surgury itself, just the recovery.

Well, time to try and grab a nap, I have to arrive at the hospital at 5:00 am, so I have to get up about 3:45 am to make it. Ugh.

Ron-P

Best of luck bro!