Just had a cervical disc replacement with fusion - my story

thorpey

Hi All,
My name is David and I had an MRI scan on my neck due to neck pain my doctor said I have spondylosis I then had an MRI scan which revealed a spinal stenosis at C5 to 6 and C6 to c7 I was then referred to a neurosurgeon because I started to have bad arm pain in both arms we then agreed to have a cervical discectomy with fusion at C5 to c6 and c6 to c7.

On the day of the operation everything was okay I had the anaesthetic and when I woke up I ended up in intensive care the consultant said they only managed to do one because there was a problem with high airway pressure so had to abandon the operation because it was dangerous I was just wondering if anybody else has experienced this when they’ve had the same operation they they did an anterior approach which is through the front of my neck and they moved everything over with the retractor and the surgeon said sometimes people can have a bad reaction to it and being done and their throats go in to a spasm and mentioned a tube kinked.or two words to that affect since the operation I have had a x-ray done but I’m still getting pain in both arms so I’ve had another MRI scan and nerve conduction studies and the next step I is to see which nerves are still affected and he is thinking that he can do another operation but through the back of my neck. thanks for reading my story and if anyone has any questions I can help with please let me know thanks David

[Deleted User]

Hi David
Welcome to the forum so sorry you are going through a lot of pain at the moment due to your operation it sounds like you have been through a dreadful experience. Everyone on the forum understands about pain and have various forms of Arthritis. The most popular forums are Living with Arthritis and Chit Chat.
Hope all goes well with you Christine

Mike1

Arm pain (brachialgia) is one of my many problems as well but my Neurosurgeon refused to operate as he said that there was too great a risk of paralysis 10 years ago, personally I would have taken the chance but I was not given the option.

stickywicket

Hi David and welcome from me too.

I can't really help. My back is my best bit though my neck is a mess. It hardly turns at all and, due the the arthritis there, plus a hiatus hernia plus GORD "nothing is quite where it should be", I've been told.

I've not had any ops on it though and it's not painful, just immobile these days. And very difficult to anaesthetise.

I know, for some ops, it's normal to go in at the back.

Sorry, I can't help but welcome aboard

frogmorton

Gosh David what a story! Thank you for sharing with us though :shock:

I do hope they will try again in the future once you are recovered if that's what you want.

Neck surgery is only done when the benefits outweigh the risks as I am sure you already know.

Do let us know what happens next your story could help a lot of people in the future

Toni xx