What's Next

[ahilelson]

I had ACDF, C5-6 surgery in June of 2019 after discovering that I had a bone spur and herniated disc. At that point, I had almost no symptoms except for ocasional tingling in a few of my fingers. About 3-4 weeks after surgery, my hands and feet began to tingle more become more numb. In the last 60 days, the numbness has spread up my arms and legs. I am beginning to feel unstable on my feet and my shoulder has now begun to tingle. I also have lumbar stenosis.

I have been back to my surgeon who completed follow up x rays, MRIs, EMG and NCV tests. He states that his surgery was done correctly and that my fusion is healing well. He is uncertain why my symptoms would have dramatically accelerated after successful ACDF.

I am about to go through another round of testing and have found a new neurologist who is being brought in to help with my case.

Has anyone had worsening symptoms after ACDF. What happens now and what can I expect going foward. I support a family and am beginning to be concerned that I will be able to continue to work if the symptoms continue to progress

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Hi there, welcome to the forum, sorry to hear that you are still having problems after acdf , I had similar problems as I was diagnosed with cervical myelopathy , the operation is to stop it getting worse but it isn't that simple , I will email you , clive

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Hi there. One wouldn't necessarily expect a worsening of symptoms after ACDF but it does take a long time for things to settle down & recover - up to 2 years in some cases.

It could be that the surgery caused a lot of bruising & swelling which in turn can temporarily stenose the spinal cord until it subsides

When I had my C6/C7 level ACDF 7 years ago - the radiculopathy pain in my left arm resolved almost immediately but what I started to notice were tics & twitches & odd shooting pains intermittently all over. I still get them now, but I was left with permanent nerve damage because surgery was over a year after first presentation.

Most of the time they don't hurt & are a minor irritation - not more than that - it's like the spinal cord is "walking up" from being compressed but also trying to heal & form new neural connections, so the nerves misfire.

It's good that you are undergoing repeat investigation & have a neurologist on board as they are a useful ally to have, so be reassured by that. i hope it is nothing more than your body waking up.

As for work etc, (I'm assuming you are in the UK) do consider applying for Personal Independence Payment - you can claim it whether you are working or not & if you are on sick pay & it runs out - claim Employment Support Allowance which is paid if you are too unwell to work. Be warned though - it's a pain (no pun intended) claiming them & many many people are first turned down but approx 75% win on appeal, so get help from your local citizens advice bureau.

Hope this is of help - give us a shout if you need more info.

If you are on Facebook yo will find me & the rest of the team on facebook.com/groups/myelopa... - if you haven't joined up already. If you do ask to join you will need to answer the screenign questions first before being given access - nothing personal - we do our best to protect the group from spammers.

Best wishes

Shirley