Wow, Bob. That's some serious stuff. I've never had any back surgery, but my father-in-law came to live with us after he had some similar procedures on his lumbar area. He was instructed not to raise his body off the bed more than 30 degrees without wearing his turtle brace while recuperating. Of course he did, and he messed up what the surgeon had done, and almost lost all sensation in his legs for good.

Moral of the story - do exactly what the doc says for as long as he or she says.

Oh, and do keep us posted. You don't want us to worry about you (even though we will - it's in our nature).

And this is one of those instances where I would advise you to take the pain meds as the doc orders. They may not seem to be doing any good, but they are.

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, Bob. I imagine back surgery can be a pretty scary notion.

Good luck with it Bob.
   hope it brings ya some relief.

Thanks guy's.Karla, I will keep you informed. And I hope they help you too. Living with pain on a regular basis sucks. Good luck.

Sending our prayers and thoughts Bob. 

My Dad had back surgery last Oct 29th, his 82nd birthday.  Unusual operation for that age I know but he is the primary care giver for my Mom who suffers from advanced Parkinsons and sypmtoms of early Alzheimers and the pain had gotten so bad he couldn't get around to care for her.

I'm not sure what C number or L number but he had 2 discs fused and a titanium plate with 3 screws installed in his lower back.  He had been experiencing a shooting electrical type pain up and down his right leg and his left foot constantly felt like it was in a bucket of ice water for several years. 

The 29th was on a Tuesday and the surgery was performed early in the morning.  At mid morning on Weds he was able to get up and walk from the bed to the door and about 15 feet up the hall with the aid of a walker.  When I got to the hospital Thurs the nurse ask me to talk to him as he was refusing pain meds and was thus in too much pain to get up and do the rehab exercises.  He consented to half a dose and was able to get up that afternoon and walk almost 30 feet up the hall and back.  On Fri morn he again refused pain meds, got up and did the required exercises and walking and since the Doc had told him he would release him Fri afternoon as long as he wasn't having to depend on pain meds and could do the exercises, he was released and I drove him home that afternoon.

We got 24 hour sitters for them for about 10 days at which time Dad was getting around better than he had been able to in several years, so he let them go and began taking care of Mom and himself again.

I know this sounds absolutely impossible but you see Papa, although retired, is a "Southern By God Baptist" preacher with just a sprinkle of Pentecost thrown is for good measure, and as we all prayed with him before the surgery, he told God that he was gonna have to heal him in a hurry so he could take care of Mom!!

Made me cry then just as relating this story is making me cry now but it is a amazing testament to the power of prayer!

Dallas Denny

I am a surgical nurse and neurosurgery has been my specialty for the last 5 years so I have participated in probably hundreds of these surgeries. I am assuming they are going to go in from the front-- this is called an anterior cervical discectomy fusion, acdf, for short. It is a pretty basic procedure and usually goes pretty well. The biggest complaint most people have after is the collar they have to wear for several weeks after. I had a friend who had it done and she HATED that collar. But it is necessary to stabilize the neck until the bones fuse.

Also, do you smoke? If so, it is important to quit asap, the bones don't fuse as well in smokers. Overall it is successful surgery and it is my understanding that patients get relief from their pain with it.

Good Luck!!