C-Spine Pre-Op Anxiety, Anyone With Experience?

[Busryder]

Hello Everyone,

My back hurts... and I just wrote a big post. So I'm gonna have to fill this in in pieces.

Anyway, I am scheduled for surgery soon and I am scared. I am having fusion from C-3 to T-1 done at Stanford University Medical Center on the 5th of March. I go for pre-op tomorrow morning... about 220mi away.

Somthing like This:

To fix something like this:
http://surugue.com/oo/wit-icons/mri_cervical_sag_t2%20_mild_stenosis_cord_compression.png
http://surugue.com/oo/text/cervical-myelopathy.html

I'll be at the Hilton for four days before the will let me leave, if all goes as planned.

Please, tell me your success stories... as I am very interested in your experiences.

As it is... I feel like it's party time:

Tell me I am overreacting and paranoid, and that I'll be on my feet in no-time! Or just talk about your pre/postoperative experiences, please.

I gotta get up in 5hrs to drive for two (NOT in my Westy!)... i'll be back tomorrow evening but doubt I'll be at my desk til the following morning to respond. But I'll have more than paranoid delusions to post when I get home from Stanford. Real Images too!! (Digital)

Please share.

Thanks!
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[fastwagens]

sorry to here that. good luck and I hope everything works out.

[vw7266]

My dad has this done 10 years ago...you'll be fine...hes as active now as he was before. Just takes some time to heal

[zozo]

I spent years and years with numb hands, excruciating pain, limited range of motion, etc, etc, etc. I finally gave in and had the surgery, albeit not as extensive as yours, and have been happy as a pig ever since.

I'm not going to say I never have pain, but when I do it's significantly less than before. Significantly less. As with a lot of surgeries, the worst part is the damned anesthesia. I ALWAYS puke afterwards, and I HATE to puke. If I had to do it again, I would, and I would do it sooner.

I hope your outcome is as positive as mine has been.

[Major Woody]

That's a big ass fusion, but you know that. I'm sure that your neurosurgeon has explained the pluses and minuses of having that many levels fused but if you need it and nothing else has worked, then you need it.
It's not that risky. People who do this work are brilliant and the procedure has been done this way for many years.
Think about how much better you'll feel and don't waste energy worrying about something you can't have any effect on.

[jspbtown]

VERY generally speaking cervical fusions are sooooo much more successful that lumbar. The c spine only holds the weight of your head...not your full torso like the lumbar.

You will clearly have a restricted range of motion after you heal. You will adapt.

The surgery or the recovery won't be fun. Rehab will suck.

But if you truely need a fusion this is one of the better places to get it.

[german_metal]

I had C5 to C7 fused 3 months ago. Like another said, there is pain but nothing like it was. And every day gets better and better. You will need the pain killers for a little while but I think it was well worth it.

Good luck; I'm sure it will work out great for you!

[sgn2bapt]

Busryder,

Being a Physical Therapist, I see patients daily who have had various Cervical surgeries. I would be glad to answer any questions you have via private message here. Let me know if I can help.
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Yes Officer, the suspension has sagged a bit over the years....

[k.t.]

listen to your physical therapist!!!
seriously, as a former horse trainer, mountain climber, skier, and (female) lineman in the Army, I have been so busted up it ain't funny! my P.T has been more instrumental in my healing than any knife wielder. other than that, relax, take your time, and DON'T LIE TO THE NURSES IN THE RECOVERY ROOM! too many times I have tried to be tough and get out of there early, you'll pay for it more than double in the long haul!

[H82WRK]

Not had this particular surgery or anything close to it but have had serious surgery before and been scared. I know that feeling and I think it's totally expected when you are facing what you are dealing with. The good thing is that you are in good hands and it sounds like from other's experiences that this is a pretty successful surgery. I know you can ask the Dr. for the anti puke meds before the surgery so that way you don't puke afterwards (this is a big fear for me) might be good to do if this is something that worries you. Other than that, I will be thinking of you and hope to hear back that you are on the mend and doing great soon!

[Rastadave]

I just wanted to let you know I've got your back bro... (Pun intended)
Anything I can do to help, let me know...

[420GOAT]

My daughter had two rods put in her back about 5 years ago. there are titanium screws holding the rods that are holding her back straight, we are thankful it all turned out and shes normal with just one or two limitations. the cold afterward is a bitch and she almost always has discomfort. i know its scary and after talking to grown men about it, i feel like a jerk cause i did not baby her enough, but i just wanted her to not think about it so much.
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once you realize im not impressed we will get along just fine

[Busryder]

One HUGE-ass fusion!!

Thanks everyone.... really.

Your comments here have helped to relieve some of the anxiety, especially yours Zozo; and I too look forward to being "happy as a pig". The pain, discomfort, and numbness/weakness have been excruciating and I have lost fine motor control and dexterity in my hands/fingers since September '12. Right now I have feeling left in 3 fingers and I haven't been able to drive my Westy in months... turning the wheel is now not possible, and to think I was able to yank the motor and swap the trans just last April, 3x! (Sigh...)

Anyway, I wanted to follow up after my pre-op yesterday, with images.

Below is what an un-afflicted spine and cord look like:

And here is mine last April, around the same time as that trans swap:

You should have seen their faces yesterday when I told them what I did on the Westy last April. I was told that I could have permanently injured myself with a simple slip and fall or an overexertion, I had no clue but wanted to drive my bus. A low impact rear-ender could easily paralyze me.

Then here it is again this last January:

The change in curvature is obvious... and so are the impingement points on the cord. It is actually twisted...

I am definitely in need of instrumentation work in several areas at multiple levels... from both sides, front and back. Extensive work.

Posterior (from the back side) fusion from C3 to T1 with rods and screws.

Anterior (from the front side) Fusion (2 of them) at C3-C4 and C5-C6-C7 using three vertebral cages filled with cadaver bone and then "seeded" with bone material taken from my hip.

I am still anxious, even though I am going to a world-class facility and am being operated on by the authority in spinal surgery and neuroscience.

This guy:

Dr. Jongsoo Park FRCSC
Chief, Spine Neurosurgery, Stanford UMC. (2006 - present)
Director, Comprehensive Spine Neurosurgery Program. Spine Fellowship and Spine Research Program, Stanford UMC. (2006 - present)

I am in good hands...


Ok, that's enough for now, I'll add more responses a bit later... I'm still very stiff after that drive yesterday. But, please, feel free to comment further.

sgn2bapt, I will take you up on the offer...
K.t., I intend to flirt with ALL of my nurses, well all the female ones anyway. No "Mr. Tough-Guy" stuff for me! I gave that shit up when I told the WWW that I am scared of this. Which was easier than quitting the ciggies!

Thanks again everyone that has offered a few words of encouragement, it is greatly appreciated.

I gotta go lay down for a while, b4 I run some errands and pick up the girls from school.
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[nsracing]

Well this is all for the best if you want to get rid of the pain and have more activities. You should be fine.

I see people post-op..only when they crash. Or if I have to do a pulmonary assesment.

Good luck.

[k.t.]

Hang in there busryder! Once again, listen to your p.t. and don't try to tough anything out!

[Endicott jb]

Good luck busryder. BTW, do I know you? I see that your x-rays were taken at mercy in merced. If you ever went to pro volks when I worked there I think I remember you.
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Josh

OORAH!!
1965 vw beetle(Mayble)
1968 vw beetle(Caroline)
1974 VW Panel Bus
2003 Dodge 2500 5.9 Cummins(Katey)

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(0\_!_/0)
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Don't drink and post
http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg353/endicott_jb/IMG_20110113_085237.jpg
When life throws you curveballs switch to boomerangs.

[sgn2bapt]

Busryder, just out of curiosity I have three questions.
1. How old are you?
2. Do you smoke?
3. Are you diabetic?

Dr Park is an awesome Doctor.
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Yes Officer, the suspension has sagged a bit over the years....

[Low67vdubinnocal]

I had one lumbar one done in 89 it was a mess left a perma cramp in my left calf. Had my neck done in 90 or so and used banked bone for the fusion. Some people told me it takes longer to recover from using your own bone then the neck surgery so banked bone it was. In 2010 I had my neck snapped back and shoulder ripped out from a work accident. I had my 3rd shoulder surgery done in November hope this last one was the last one. As soon as the shoulder is healed enough the neck gets fused again. I have a neck surgeon but I might look yours up for a second opinion just to be safe. One thing for sure is surgery from 20 years ago is nothing like it is today and things are much better. Your at Stanford so I doubt you can get much better than that. Good luck hope it goes well.

[Gary]

Wow. I took a thrashing in a car wreck a couple of years ago when I hit another car that ran a stop sign and spun it around. When spinning, it hit my left rear quarter and then the right front fender. The impacts caused everything from the base of my spine all the way up to "loosen" and rattle in a snakelike fashion up & right and then up & left.

The chiropractor was baffled why I was still enduring neck pain after four days of therapy. He took some x-rays and discovered that I have degeneration in the discs of my neck and promptly referred me to a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon was surprised when he first met me and said that I have the neck of a 60-year old man (I was 38 at the time). After some discussion, he stated that it wasn't a question of "if", but a questions of "when" I would have to have three of the discs in my neck replaced. He was pleased when I told him I wasn't too keen on having surgery. Three weeks of physical therapy really helped.

This is the style of disc he said had been recently approved by the FDA and was very successful in Europe:

I have to be careful with any strenuous activity or else I really pay for it with some serious neck discomfort.
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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

[Major Woody]

Those cages are supposed to be really good.