I'm just curious if anyone who was been or is scheduled for decompression has significant other issues with their neck like stenosis, spondylitis, herniate discs, etc, and as to whether or not the surgeon addressed or plans to correct any of these issues during the decompression surgery. If so, what repairs were made during decompression or treatment plan was put into place to resolve all the issues of the cervical spine. If not then what reasoning did the surgeon give to not address all the issues in one surgery. I'm wondering if some folks have a lot more difficult recovery due to lingering issues that are not addressed.
My NS fused C5,6 and 7 and said if he were to deal with all of the herniated disc's in cervical column right now I'd have no movement of neck and he says at 36 I am to young for that. He will also be the one doing the decompression surgery. I have apt on 31st with him and you brought up questions that have me curious now on that....I am going to bring some questions up if the herniated disc's in my cervical column could cause issues with pain and recovery from the decompression...thats what i do not want or need
My NS did a posterior laminoplasty at c5-c7, partial laminectomies at c4 and c1 when he was in doing my decompression. Its been almost 3 months since surgery. It has been a very long recovery. I finally will attempt to go back to work in 1 1/2 weeks. All the muscles were cut from c1-c7 and it is hard for me to balance my head on my shoulders. I have stenosis of cervical as well as lumbar spine and bulging discs. I have some lingering pressure in my head and tingling in my hands and feet. My neck hurts terribly. My NS says it is going to take time to heal. I sometimes wished he would have done only the decompression, but he said he wanted to spare me future misery and time off work in the future. I get all the misery of two surgeries up front. Oh well, its done and over.
Are you happy they did it at once? I am looking at more down the road to fuse discs
Yes, the laminoplasty is supposed to relieve the spinal cord of the compression from the stenosis. My NS was toying with fusion vs. decompression. I did have brainstem and vertebral artery compression, so I'm glad he did the decompression. He doesn't feel I will need a fusion now. I do a lot of lifting, pulling, pushing, in my job. I am a hands on nurse. We will get an aide when the census is high enough. We do have to help them as patients are very dependent. I will be exhausting my protected leave, that is why I need to get back to work. My boss won't let me return on lifting restriction, but she has agreed for me to come back part-time. I do 8 hour shifts, unless someone calls in, then I can be mandated to stay 16. I have applied for some clinic jobs. It will be hard to leave my job. My dream job would be in the Chiari Clinic. My NS is a Chiari Specialist, the clinic is in the hospital where I work. I was blessed that I did not have to go far to find him. He has been very supportive of me and can keep close tabs on me. Alas, they already have a medical assistant. She has been very wonderful. Poptart, we are almost the same age, I just turned 48.