Cervical Disc replacement?

[DuckDogDr]

I have a terrible back and have already HAD to have surgery (microdiscectomy) about 11 years ago when I was 2 On my lower back… couldn’t feel my left leg at all.

For the last year my neck has been bothering me and now within the past week I wake up with numb hands and now doing general work chores for extended periods I have shooting pain from my neck down to both hands and will loose feeling ..

So I know surgery is coming .. and making an appointment with a neurosurgeon this week .
But wanted to hear people’s real world experience with how their experiences were and how they are doing post - op .

 

[roosterdown]

Had the C5/6 & 6/7 replaced about 3 years ago. Was in horrible pain radiating to fingers on left hand; looked like a hunchback with head cocked to the side 24 hours a day...disc was ruptured and a second threatening.

Woke up from surgery and the relief was instantaneous. Completely back to normal within a couple months. Western hunts, backpacking, long canoe trips in Canada with big portages...Can do it all.

 

[RockAndSage]

Recovery times seem to be better than they were a decade ago. I've had a couple of family members who've needed various types of surgeries (c-spine and lower back) to relieve disc pressure on nerves, and they've commented on this. The surgical techniques seem to be improved quite a bit over the last 10-15 years. My dad's in his late sixties and had lower spine work done on a couple of vertebrae in the spring, and did a successful solo mule deer hunt this October. He'd worked through pain and mobility limitations over the summer and steadily improved, and said that while he wasn't quite up to where he wanted to be by the time of the hunt, he was still fully functional. That left me pretty impressed with the state of the medical art.

All that said, my best takeaways from these conversations is that while the surgeries are a lot better, your own personal dedication to the rehabilitation and physical therapy part afterward is where people really succeed or fail in getting back to their expected quality of life.

Good luck with your surgery, and know you're not alone in the hunting community in going through something like this.

 

[Szwampdonkey]

Have you tried therapy BEFORE going under the knife? It was mentioned above to adhere to it after surgery but surgery should always be last resort and many just jump right to surgery first. Thats a huge mistake.

 

[dtrkyman]

My bro in law had back surgery years ago, he's basically a cripple! Fused disks.

Get multiple opinions and look for a doctor who works on pro athletes!

 

[Rich M]

You need to figure out why this stuff is happening...

I know a guy who has some kind of degenerative issue who's bones and spine are shrinking.

 

[yfarm]

Wife herniated C5-6 disc, had intractable, uncontrollable pain for 3 days, neurosurgeon did a discectomy and ant fusion with an anterior approach, woke up with no pain but lost her voice for 3 months, most peaceful time. 4 yrs later had ongoing severe back pain, tried steroid injections, pt, no relief. Developed foot weakness and had surgery a week later. Has done well. If you develope neuro deficits, the clock is ticking and may become permanent without surgery. As in everything find the expert even if you have to travel. Her neck was done by a neurosurgeon I knew and knew his work, wanted to treat her low back conservatively, after it failed went to Mayo and was operated on immediately by a guy who won’t operate on 85% of his referred patients. 10 yrs later has done well. Did the Miami 1/2 marathon last year.
Wife’s dachshund had hindleg weakness develope 4 weeks ago, progressed to paralysis 12 days ago, local vet treated symptoms, asked about surgery, he said private clinic in Houston or A&M, my choice and walked out of the room. Dog got worse overnight and we drove to College Station the next day, following day had an MRi followed by L2-3 discectomy. We are 10 days out and the dog is walking, not normally but walking and improving every day.
The science and techniques continue to evolve towards minimally invasive with shorter recovery times. Good luck.

 

[manitou1]

I damaged mine during the healing process and suffered from headaches for a decade.
Baby it and listen to docs.
The surgery and recovery were a cake walk compared to other surgeries I have had.

 

[kipper09]

I severely herniated my c5,6 and c6,7 when I was about 36 years old. Did physical therapy for 9 weeks with no real improvement at all. Was referred to a surgeon local but ended up getting referred to a cervical spine specialist.. as stated before l, find the best you can and avoid surgery at all costs.

I had no Choice and disc replacement was my hope and the surgeons as well but after assessing it he was 100% sure it wouldn’t work for me because I have pretty severe kyphosis. Ultimately fused c4-c7. It’s not ideal at all. I have some limited range of motion but all in all I wouldn’t change anything. I couldn’t function before surgery and had lost a ton of strength with both arms and hands having a lot of numbness. I still hunt and do about anything I seem to want to do. Staying in the best shape possible will help tremendously.. Good luck with things.


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[COJoe]

My wife had C1-C5 fused, so five vertebrae, back in mid August after dealing with job ending pain for about 15 years. First time seeing the doctor about 10 years ago he told her she wasn't bad enough for surgery becaue she has fybromialga and he may make it worse. So we appreciated his honesty and not just being a hero and doing surgery for her. After seeing her MRI this July he told her it's time for surgery which she had in August. The doctor used cadaver bone between the disc and they are starting to fuse to her vertebrae so that's exciting for her. They did the cadaver bones instead of taking bone from the hip because it was to painful for the patients so he stopped doing it. She is recovering very well with some issues with her throat due to the fact that they went in through the front of her neck but it will just take time to heal. She actually still has pretty decent mobility on her neck just limited up and down. We both thought she would be "crippled up" for a long time but that's not the case whatsoever. The hardware in her neck looks like a bike chain but it's designed to cover up the screw heads once the screws go so far in through the tiny brackets so they can't back out.

She tries to get to her physical therapy appointments but if not, she'll do her exercises at home. Her radiating pain down her arms and neck she had are gone thankfully. Less than two weeks after the surgery she was able to start some short walks, Praise God! Technogogy is amazing now and he showed us all the hardware he was going to use before and why he uses one type over another. He's an excellent spine specialist in Denver so between the two of us, we have driven up there I think 10 times since July for appoiintments. He did my recent L-5 microdiscectomy surgery in November and another one back in 2015. If anyone needs a reference for a spine doctor, PM me and I'll forward his info along. Him and his staff have worked together for over 17 years which says something about how he treats his staff and PA. I say a lot of this to say get references from family and friends definitely as there are some scary doctors out there.

DuckDogDr hopefully this info will encourage you so let us know how your recovery goes and hopefully you'll be back on the mountain come next season....