Recovery from Neck surgery

Wow....

My throat hurts really bad, my neck hardly at all. They have to move parts around to get to the cervical stuff and it feels like it. I usually run a pressure of 12 or 12.5. I've had to up it to 14 during the recovery of this surgery. I hope things are not permanently screwed up.

Last nite I set the machine for 13 and when I read the card this morning my AHI was 17.5! I've never seen numbers that high.

Thanks to this forum I can bump things up and hopefully still get treatment while I'm healing. Imagine the person on cpap without this knowledge and where they would be.

JeffH

Take care, and take it easy, Jeff.
O.

Jeff,

How is it going?? What vertebra did they fuse?? Did you do the bone or titanium cage?? I have severe problems with C5-C7 and minor at C-4, my orthopod wanted to fuse the C5-C7 and said I would probably have to do C4-C5 at some point. We have put off the surgery for now with 2 cervical epidurals and a cervical collar at night with some meds. What can you enlighten me about your experiences with the surgery/recovery?? I hope you will do fine and get the OSA back under control!! GOOD LUCK and get well SOON!!!

mallen4258 wrote:Jeff,

How is it going?? What vertebra did they fuse?? Did you do the bone or titanium cage?? I have severe problems with C5-C7 and minor at C-4, my orthopod wanted to fuse the C5-C7 and said I would probably have to do C4-C5 at some point. We have put off the surgery for now with 2 cervical epidurals and a cervical collar at night with some meds. What can you enlighten me about your experiences with the surgery/recovery?? I hope you will do fine and get the OSA back under control!! GOOD LUCK and get well SOON!!!

They fused C3-4 and 4-5. Didn't use bone, used an artificial spacer with a bone growth medium added to the spacer. Metal brace across C3, 4, and 5 with two screws in each. No neck brace. Got about a 3" cut on the bottom part of my neck.

Like I said, they move all your internal throat parts around to get to the bones, and that plays hell with them afterward. Neck hasn't hurt much at all...in fact I quit the pain meds yesterday. Still need the muscle relaxers and Rx strength Motrin. It is very hard to swallow without choking. It feels like the gag reflex is about 3 times as big and everything hits it. The first three days I had to use a spit cup because I couldn't swallow normal saliva. Hell of a diet though...I've had to lose weight with the foods I'm eating...LOL.

The good part is now that the disc that were giving me trouble are gone, there is no pain there. I've lived with that for the last 20 years and this last winter was the worst by far.

Good Luck with what you decide to do.

JeffH

The muscle relaxants could be contribuing to the apneas. And I don't mean "and therefore don't take them". I'm just noting the fact.

O.

ozij wrote:The muscle relaxants could be contribuing to the apneas. And I don't mean "and therefore don't take them". I'm just noting the fact.

O.

They could be. Believe me, I try to get off this stuff as quickly as possible. When I get a couple of hours past time for the MR's my shoulders start knotting up and I get shooting pains in my neck. Spasms are one of the bad side effects of this and the MR's seem to keep them at bay. I'm not quitting them yet. I'll just kick the pressure up and ride it out.

JeffH

I had C 4 and C 5 vertebrae removed completely and replaced with donor bone and the titanium brace. C4 and 5 were pushing on the spinal cord. Incision was also about 3 to 4 inches but up higher more near my jawline. Yep, they do move stuff around and it takes a while for those problems to resolve. It took me about 10 days to get swallowing to be more normal. I had a wonderful sexy Lauren Bacall voice for about 6 months. Sort of wish that had stayed. It was kind nice to sound sultry instead of Ozark twangy.

Lots of second hand trauma to your throat involved with the anterior incision. Lots of bruising internally. At about 2 weeks post op you should be noticing that most of the second hand symptoms have dissipated.

Good luck. The relief from the constant pain is well worth the minor discomforts post op.
Brenda

Hang in there Jeff.

I have chronic pain in my C6-7 from an injury about 30 years ago. I see a chiro and get adjustment, massage therapy, and acupuncture every other week for relief. I don't think I have the guts to go under the knife so I just put up with it.

Get well soon bud and take care.

My female & ankle surgeries also left me with a VERY sore throat . . . due to the tubes or whatever apparatus the anesthesiologist puts in the throat. That may be why yours is sore also.

JoyD. wrote:My female & ankle surgeries also left me with a VERY sore throat . . . due to the tubes or whatever apparatus the anesthesiologist puts in the throat. That may be why yours is sore also.

Yea, this surgery they put the tubes down your throat and then move everything around! You get double the fun...LOL

JeffH

DreamStalker wrote:Hang in there Jeff.

I have chronic pain in my C6-7 from an injury about 30 years ago. I see a chiro and get adjustment, massage therapy, and acupuncture every other week for relief. I don't think I have the guts to go under the knife so I just put up with it.

Get well soon bud and take care.

Putting up with it was how I dealt with it until this last winter. It hurt longer and louder than in the past. I think they call that getting old. Anyway, thanks for the good wishes and I hope what you are doing works for you for the rest of your life.

JeffH

I'm reading all the responses to the original post and am wondering if the disc problems are a contributor to apnea/hypopnea? I also had C4 & 5 herniated yrs. ago and have constant cracking/discomfort/swelling and had wondered if the inflammation actually was obstructing my airway, but that I'd gotten so used to it that I didn't notice anymore. Is there a connection? Do alot of cpap users have this similar injusy? Seems too coincedental.

mrs. sandman wrote:I'm reading all the responses to the original post and am wondering if the disc problems are a contributor to apnea/hypopnea? I also had C4 & 5 herniated yrs. ago and have constant cracking/discomfort/swelling and had wondered if the inflammation actually was obstructing my airway, but that I'd gotten so used to it that I didn't notice anymore. Is there a connection? Do alot of cpap users have this similar injusy? Seems too coincedental.

I have also been wondering about something similar but more along the lines of physical positions. My PCP thinks that my 4 inch long metal plate starting at C3 (which has given me very limited movement) may be a contributing factor and I was wondering if the trauma to the neck tissues itself may be a contributor. I don't have any before or after comparisons because I am newly diagnosed and going in for titration study tonight. Neck surgery was in 2001 and the bulk of my sleep apnea symptoms seem to have developed in the last 4 years. I have to discount the headaches somewhat because they can also be attributed to the cervical spine problem.

We all know that the obstructive collapse of the airway is affected by positional changes of the airway which of course relates to the neck itself. So I have been wondering if the limitations in cervical spine movement associated with various degenerative changes might factor in with either a causative or contributing factor in obstructive sleep apnea. Also wondering if the trauma done during my surgery has been a factor. Of course no way to know for sure but my incision area is very high and corresponds with all the pictures that I have seen describing where the collapse occurs. Did the trauma associated with the surgery to those tissues cause a weakening of the structures and cause the problem or simply make it worse, if it factors in at all?

It will be interesting to know if Jeff still has to up the pressure a bit, from his normal, in 3 months or so. He will be off the muscle relaxers by then and his spine will have stabilized. He may or may not notice any limitations in movement of the cervical spine from his procedure. To give you an idea on mine, I cannot drink soda from a can without lots of problems because I can't tilt my head back far enough to get the liquid out and not get it all over me.

I haven't had a chance to discuss this with my sleep doctor though. I will try to remember to ask him when I go back for follow up.

c5 was herniated touching my spinal cord....made both arms numb and my left leg was spasming. Had emergency surgery fusion...4-5-6 fuse together...spacer put in. Its been only 8 days but i feel great the numbness went away and im rcovering nicely.

2 things ...first my scar is only and inch and a quarter those 3 inch scars seem huge.

Secondly i was wondering how long it will be before i can workout fully again my doc said 1 month of pt after 4 weeks..so does that mean full workouts in 2 months just curious if anybody can relate.

I had c6-7 fused about a year ago. The sore throat with trouble swallowing lasted 3 - 4 weeks, after surgery I had no neck pain .