Just Had Neck Surgery

[LATS]

Did you have yours done in the US?

Yes.. Getting to be pretty standard practice any more.. That is if the surgeon has been trained in the prodcedure properly..

 

[maldorf]

Hey all, Friday I had a Posterior, Left Side, C4-5 Decompression. Things seemed to have gone well.

My surgeon uses a lot of local anesthetic and it wore off about 6pm tonight (Saturday)..LOL! Luckily he prescribed me a good amount of Oxycodone. My left arm is acting a bit weird due to all of the trauma in the surgery area. It's like it's partially asleep but without the numbness and pins and needles...just awkward to move around. It's slowly getting better though.

Anyway, looking forward to things healing up and slowly returning to the gym. I have some other surgeries on the horizon, so it's nice to get one out of the way!

Funny/sad story regarding my insurance...they wouldn't approve my pain meds. They thought one every four hours was too much (10mg Oxycodone for post surgery). For a cervical decompression? Really?? Anyway, I wound up paying cash on Thursday since it hadn't come through yet and then I get a call today, Saturday, at 6pm letting me know it was approved. I'll get reimbursed but what a joke!

I haven't been of the forum as much due to issues with my spine. There are issue in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar...good times! LOL!! For you guys that know some of my history, this is par for the course.

There is a huge push in the US now against opioids. Many doctors are trying to avoid prescribing much at all out of fear of getting into trouble. In my state the government is making a big push to take the medical license away from doctors they feel prescribe too many. Doctors are running scared now.

 

[Reload]

Sounds like you and JJ should talk. If anyone can prepare him for what's to come it'd be you.

 

[johnjuanb1]

Hey all, Friday I had a Posterior, Left Side, C4-5 Decompression. Things seemed to have gone well.

My surgeon uses a lot of local anesthetic and it wore off about 6pm tonight (Saturday)..LOL! Luckily he prescribed me a good amount of Oxycodone. My left arm is acting a bit weird due to all of the trauma in the surgery area. It's like it's partially asleep but without the numbness and pins and needles...just awkward to move around. It's slowly getting better though.

Anyway, looking forward to things healing up and slowly returning to the gym. I have some other surgeries on the horizon, so it's nice to get one out of the way!

Funny/sad story regarding my insurance...they wouldn't approve my pain meds. They thought one every four hours was too much (10mg Oxycodone for post surgery). For a cervical decompression? Really?? Anyway, I wound up paying cash on Thursday since it hadn't come through yet and then I get a call today, Saturday, at 6pm letting me know it was approved. I'll get reimbursed but what a joke!

I haven't been of the forum as much due to issues with my spine. There are issue in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar...good times! LOL!! For you guys that know some of my history, this is par for the course.

Oh Man Bio, i didn’t know you had to get spine surgery. Insurance companies are such jerks. I’m bedridden waiting on spine surgery next Friday because they take a week to approve anything. This surgery should have been done 2 weeks ago but every step takes forever for insurance to approve it. I’m taking tons of mike Arnold’s tianeptine. It works just as well as the norco they prescribed me. I have 5mg oxycotin for after surgery.
I hope they fix everything that’s causing you pain. I feel for you man! It’s no fun being in constant pain. Good luck with everything!

 

[jeroendebleser]

Instead of a fusion can they not just do a disc replacement ? Mine in my neck has done great... Full movement ...

Prosthetic discs are (most of the time) only being used for cervical trauma.

That being said, I had a prosthetic disc put in my L5-S1 after my first hernia. It failed however, it just broke and they had to fuse it eventually.

 

[Bio]

How long did they say recovery would be? at night did you have problems with one or both of your hands going numb? when trying to sleep? i'm having that issue right now, suppose to meet with surgeon on the 11th of july

Houndsman, that's not necessarily a cervical issue. A lot of bigger guys get that at night. It's a pain in the ass but not necessarily evidence of anything structurally wrong. Good to get it checked out though, just in case!

 

[Bio]

Instead of a fusion can they not just do a disc replacement ? Mine in my neck has done great... Full movement ...

LATS, at the time I had my cervical fusion done, August 2015, it was a two level. As far as I know, the replacements are just for single level.

 

[jeroendebleser]

LATS, at the time I had my cervical fusion done, August 2015, it was a two level. As far as I know, the replacements are just for single level.

Indeed!

 

[Bio]

There is a huge push in the US now against opioids. Many doctors are trying to avoid prescribing much at all out of fear of getting into trouble. In my state the government is making a big push to take the medical license away from doctors they feel prescribe too many. Doctors are running scared now.

I normally see a pain management doctor who handles all of that. They were just letting the surgeon handle the post op prescription.

Once something becomes political, it won't die no matter if it's good or bad for the general public. It just pissed me off because I was being denied for using it post op!

 

[11111]

Damn man, lots of back issues your whole life. What do you attribute that to? Do major back problems run in your family? Did you have some traumatic injury young like a car wreck? Played football, crazy training, what?

Glad your rounding the bend to recovery though. Hang in there.

Bio, I was going to ask the same thing gi bro asked here

Can you shed any light on what you attribute these back/neck issues to?

Best of luck to you on your recovery

 

[Bio]

Oh Man Bio, i didn’t know you had to get spine surgery. Insurance companies are such jerks. I’m bedridden waiting on spine surgery next Friday because they take a week to approve anything. This surgery should have been done 2 weeks ago but every step takes forever for insurance to approve it. I’m taking tons of mike Arnold’s tianeptine. It works just as well as the norco they prescribed me. I have 5mg oxycotin for after surgery.
I hope they fix everything that’s causing you pain. I feel for you man! It’s no fun being in constant pain. Good luck with everything!

Like I mentioned in one post, it looks like I'll now be diagnosed with AS (Ankylosing Spondylitis) which I've had symptoms of since I was 17 (49 now). I've always been involved with weights, martial arts, boxing, kickboxing and I owned a construction company for 17 years until I finally had to get out due to spine issues.

JJ what procedure are they doing?

In November '98 I had an L4-5 Laminectomy. Sadly this did absolutely nothing! I didn't train for many years.

In December '14 I had a L4-5 and L5s1 Fusion. Best thing I ever did! I really didn't loose much bending ability and I felt great!!

In August '15 I had C5-6 and C6-7 Fusion. That also took away a great deal of pain and also dizziness I would get from putting my head back.

In late Oct/early Nov '15 I had a fractured T6 vertebrae. Now they're thinking some type of stress fracture along with the AS playing a role.

Now the C5-6 decompression.

Still more things going on with the cervical and lumbar, we'll see how they play out. I will say that all of my surgeries were helpful except for the laminectomy.

Good luck JJ and hit me up if there's anything I can help you with!

 

[Bio]

Bio, I was going to ask the same thing gi bro asked here

Can you shed any light on what you attribute these back/neck issues to?

Best of luck to you on your recovery

I think the Ankylosing Spondylitis caused a lot of the pain along the spine growing up. Then came herniated discs and vertebrae issues. I had a very active lifestyle at the time too...or tried to. Add heavy lifting and a career in construction that I listed above and for me it was a recipe for a lot of back pain and trauma.

 

[LATS]

LATS, at the time I had my cervical fusion done, August 2015, it was a two level. As far as I know, the replacements are just for single level.

Actually according to my surgeon they can go two levels.. He was worried that the c6 would need it too but once he got in there he just did a clean out and it's been fine.. I just a had a buddy here get his c5 done also.. Sucks.. I feel for Ya but the replacement has been great .. ( knock on wood) ...

 

[Reload]

Bio, looking back over your life is there anything you would have done different knowing what you know about your spine today? With you genetic predisposition to Ankylosing Spondylitis is there anything you could have done?

 

[Jblack]

Speedy recovery my friend! I am always a call away if you need anything, even an ear.

 

[Bio]

Bio, looking back over your life is there anything you would have done different knowing what you know about your spine today? With you genetic predisposition to Ankylosing Spondylitis is there anything you could have done?

Too many different factors at play to know. If I had known what the real issue was at any given time, then I might have taken different precautions. Just be proactive with your health and balance that with having some fun.

 

[nothuman]

Bio, any chance you'll research stem cells as part of your recovery?

 

[Bio]

Bio, any chance you'll research stem cells as part of your recovery?

I need to look into it regarding Ankylosing Spondylitis but in regards to stenosis, it doesn't help.

 

[johnjuanb1]

Like I mentioned in one post, it looks like I'll now be diagnosed with AS (Ankylosing Spondylitis) which I've had symptoms of since I was 17 (49 now). I've always been involved with weights, martial arts, boxing, kickboxing and I owned a construction company for 17 years until I finally had to get out due to spine issues.

JJ what procedure are they doing?

In November '98 I had an L4-5 Laminectomy. Sadly this did absolutely nothing! I didn't train for many years.

In December '14 I had a L4-5 and L5s1 Fusion. Best thing I ever did! I really didn't loose much bending ability and I felt great!!

In August '15 I had C5-6 and C6-7 Fusion. That also took away a great deal of pain and also dizziness I would get from putting my head back.

In late Oct/early Nov '15 I had a fractured T6 vertebrae. Now they're thinking some type of stress fracture along with the AS playing a role.

Now the C5-6 decompression.

Still more things going on with the cervical and lumbar, we'll see how they play out. I will say that all of my surgeries were helpful except for the laminectomy.

Good luck JJ and hit me up if there's anything I can help you with!

I’m having a laminotomy/discectomy.

 

[johnjuanb1]

Like I mentioned in one post, it looks like I'll now be diagnosed with AS (Ankylosing Spondylitis) which I've had symptoms of since I was 17 (49 now). I've always been involved with weights, martial arts, boxing, kickboxing and I owned a construction company for 17 years until I finally had to get out due to spine issues.

JJ what procedure are they doing?

In November '98 I had an L4-5 Laminectomy. Sadly this did absolutely nothing! I didn't train for many years.

In December '14 I had a L4-5 and L5s1 Fusion. Best thing I ever did! I really didn't loose much bending ability and I felt great!!

In August '15 I had C5-6 and C6-7 Fusion. That also took away a great deal of pain and also dizziness I would get from putting my head back.

In late Oct/early Nov '15 I had a fractured T6 vertebrae. Now they're thinking some type of stress fracture along with the AS playing a role.

Now the C5-6 decompression.

Still more things going on with the cervical and lumbar, we'll see how they play out. I will say that all of my surgeries were helpful except for the laminectomy.

Good luck JJ and hit me up if there's anything I can help you with!

I think I’m having an L4/L5 laminectomy like what you had. That scares me that your surgery didn’t work. I’ve been in constant pain for so long and my opiate tolerance keeps increasing. I can only walk about 10 feet then i have to sit on the ground and move my leg around until the pain isn’t horrible. The surgeon said a piece of my disk broke off and is stuck up against the nerves. He’s going to cut that piece of disk out and shape the remaining disk plus cut out a space in the vertebrae so the nerves have space. I’m a loner and on my own for the surgery which has me nervous. I’ve never used Uber or Lyft but I’ll have to figure out how to use one to get a ride to the hospital. The instructions say i need my primary care doctor to okay the surgery but i don’t have a primary care doctor. Mine retired a year ago. I guess if this doesn’t work I’ll ask about a spinal fushion. The surgeon said my entire spine is pretty much bone on bone. My right arm gets numb and my upper right back feels knotted up. Several of my spinal nerves have very little space before they get impinged.

I hope everything goes well for you. I hate not being able to workout out. You said after your laminectomy you couldn’t workout for years? But being free from this sciatica leg pain is my main priority. I actually like being off AAS. It’s a nice break. I know AAS are bad news on my health. This whole experience has charged my priorities. I was so obsessed with my body that i missed out on living life. I look forward to doing things differently and having more fun in the future. I’ll try to get in the shape i was in 3 weeks ago if possible. But by working harder in the gym, more cardio, less drugs. And hopefully i can get off all the pain drugs eventually. I have Percocet here for after surgery. That drug scares me. I was addicted to oxytocin for awhile and it wasn’t something i ever want to experience again.