A C D & F

   Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, with plating with autograft. I mean, if you're going to have one thing done, you might as well go all the way. That's what I did one year ago today.

  I awoke the day after Martin Luther King's birthday with a stiff neck. I thought I had just slept in an awkward position, no big whoop. The next day it was still stiff, and it did not get any better over time. I could not turn left or right without it hurting at the base of my neck into my right shoulder. After a visit to the doctor, x-rays were taken and they came back negative. Some pain pills were prescribed and I continued to work for the next two weeks. The next hoop to jump through for the insurance company was two weeks of physical therapy. By this time my right arm was really hurting and I had started to lose strength in it. There just was no comfortable position for my arm to be in without feeling a throbbing pain in my neck and shoulder. After a week of that I said no more, it was making matters worse. So after pre-authorization was completed, an MRI was preformed. By this time, towards the end of February, the pain in my neck and right shoulder was so severe that I could not lie still. This meant they had to sedate me for the MRI, which meant a nurse had to be present. It's always something.

   Now that we had some pictures, it was time to see more doctors. I had now lost a significant amount of strength in my arm and concern was setting in. We went to see an orthopedic surgeon and a neurologist. They both said that surgery needed to be performed. The MRI told the story. Here were all these perfect pictures of my neck and then, all of a sudden, bam, here's this one frame with this black hole in the middle of it. That's where the disc herniated, between C6 and C7. They explained it to me as taking a jelly donut and squeezing it until the jelly starts to come out the hole. When that disc herniated, my nerves got pinched and that's what lead to the pain and loss of strength in my arm. All because I was trying to get a good nights sleep.

   All this time, life was miserable to say the least. I was on pain pills that would paralyze a horse, plus Ambien at night to try and get some sleep. It still didn't help. I drove my bride to the other bedroom because I would wake up in the middle of the night just screaming in agony. I found the most comfortable place was in the recliner, about halfway back, with a pillow on my chest to rest my arm on. This position provided about 2 hours of good sleep. I was not a happy camper.

   After some soul searching and background checks, we decided on Dr. Steve Johnson who was assisted by Dr. David Wong. As I like to say, Steve did the wiring and David did the body work. Dr. Johnson scrapped the disc out after getting through all the nerves and whatever else is in your neck, and Dr.Wong did a bone graft from the right side of my hip and screwed in the four holed titanium bracket that holds my neck in place. They even did the incision on a wrinkle line on my neck so you can't see the scar. How cool is that? These two gentleman did an awesome job and I owe my life to them. Thank you so very much.

   Surgery was around 1:30 and I awoke around 8:15 that night to the lovely sight of my bride and her sister. Less than two days later I was free. I do not like hospitals. I don't know why, I just don't. That's probably a whole other story. I was back home and happy, but still pretty dopey. For the next 3 months I had to wear this neck brace. Not much of a fashion statement, but a definite necessity. After a month, when it was determined that everything had progressed as planned, it was time for physical therapy. Health South was a 1 1/2 mile walk from our house, which was perfect. It was 3 times a week for an hour or longer session, over about a three month time period. These folks did a great job. I got the strength back in my arm and the movement back in my neck. Plus one of the therapists was a Red Sox fan. Life is good.

   I did not start back to work until the middle of July and then for only 4 hours a day. It was not until September that I started working a full 8. Everything now is superb. I've got a route where I don't have to carry mail on my shoulders, I'm pain free and although I've lost a little bit of range of motion in my neck, it's no big deal. I'm a very thankful man.

   So be careful when you go to bed tonight. They say that 80% of herniated discs are caused while you are sleeping. What do they know? Sleep tight.

   Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.   -   Bumper sticker

 

Comments

[Doug]

Its good to know that the surgery was not intended to improve your looks. Comparing the picture in the story to now, there is no improvemement.

But - - I'm happy the back is okay. ;-)

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