Disc herniation c5-c6

[Aprilsapphire]

I was having excruciating nerve pain. MRI show disc herniation & compressed nerve at c5-c6.

Orthopedic physician recommends mobi c artificial disc surgery. I have had this ongoing neck & shoulder pain for 3 yrs. i have tried PT, steroids shots, chiropractor to no avail as time has gone on its gotten worse.

Has anyone with CLL had surgery on neck & if so any advice as i prepare for surgery.

I am on W& W .

Thank you

[Jonquiljo]

My wife has had orthopedic surgery many times for many years. Her advice would be to get a second independent opinion. Sorry.

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

I had a Laminectomy L2-L5 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamin... in 2016 that did not relieve the pain radiating down my left leg, to the point where I could only walk 2 blocks or one flight of stairs without resting for 5 minutes. I was an invalid and needed a battery powered trike to function in New York city.-

In 2018 I had an ALIF (Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion)

spine-health.com/treatment/...

and do PT exercises 3 times per week without pause. I now walk 2+ miles or any number of stairs with no problems.

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Choosing the right proceedure and the right surgical team was very important and complex.

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I was lucky to get relief with half the number of back surgeries that Tiger Woods had, despite all the resources available to him.

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Len

[Aprilsapphire in reply to lankisterguy]

Thank you Do you feel CLL complicate your situation?

[lankisterguy Volunteer in reply to Aprilsapphire]

Not significantly. -

However there was lots of concern / caution around preventing infections in the surgical incisions due to being immune compromised. The ALIF required two large deep incisions ~ 6 inches long, one in the stomach and the other in the back. They required drains that can become infection sites. -

There are other procedures that use small keyhole incisions from the sides, but they can disturb important core muscles that take longer to recover. ( This can be different depending on which vertebrae is involved.)

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There is not one procedure that is perfect, so as Jonquiljo suggests - get several opinions. I had 3 from 3 different top rated neurosurgery hospitals - and each one had a different favorite approach.

I listened carefully and researched thoroughly before choosing the team and their preferred procedure.

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Len

[SofiaDeo]

I wonder if there is a HU group dedicated to this type of surgery....getting opinions from other Back Surgery patients, and their experiences with the different options there, may give more info in addition to us CLL'ers experience?

[lankisterguy Volunteer in reply to SofiaDeo]

Here is a posting to the "Pain Concern" community: healthunlocked.com/painconc...

And once on that page, look for the box labeled: Related Posts

*Pain in neck and back of head

*Back and trapped nerve in my neck

*New-ish symptoms coming from neck problem?

*Low back pain moving?

*Back and leg problems

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Then use the related posts box on other pages since each different title will yield different postings depending on the words in the title.

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Len