Quote:
Originally Posted by Brewster
Neck-rosis my doc(GP), says that if I have cervical fusion I'll lose mobility there and I won't be able to drive. I have been told that cervical ADR is not a possibility because of auto-fusion. Currently I have full neck mobility, I do feel a bit of pressure when I move my head to the vertical extreme tho'.
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Yes, Heterotopic Ossification is not the "norm".
I'll give you MY experience from having C4-C7 fused anteriorly. I can drive OK I just use the rest of my Thoracic spine to check my blind spots. I still have 45 Degrees of left/right motion. My up and down motion has been greatly reduced. My revision surgeon here in Toronto told me I would lose 50% motion in my neck. I was reluctant to go through with it because he was the only surgeon who wanted to do C4-C7. All other surgeons recommended only C5-C7. His rationale was that even though I only had minor degeneration on C4-5 the over compensation of motion at C4-5 from fusing only C5-7 would cause premature wearing of C4-5 and necessitate another revision within 5 years. (C4-5 is a very mobile disc).
To sum it up, I now have less pain than I did when my facets joints were grinding against each other with the Bryan disc, but the pain I do still have is more chronic in nature. The surgeon was correct when he told me that this procedure would drop my pain levels by 50%. The part that I have a hard time with is that it has made me a more sedentary person. Staying fit is more challenging with the motion restriction. I feel the tugging on my remaining ligaments above the fusion when I move my neck so I am encouraged to stay inactive more often and not aggravate the situation. I'm already doing mild core exercises but only with a Philadelphia hard collar. Looking forward to getting some odd stares at the gym when I put my collar on to do lat pull-downs and ab crunches.
On the up side is that being fused means no more joint inflammation (at least not in between the fused segments) and no pain from swelling. For people with multiple spine joint problems fusion is the way to go and is the only way to predictably correct deformities and alignment issues.
My Spinal cord damage is now stabilized, and that's definitely a welcome change, but during the procedure the surgeon subluxed my C4 vertebral body posteriorly while he drove in the screws on the top 2 side holes of the titanium plate. The plate was also not screwed down flush with my C4 vertebral body (4-5mm Protruding anteriorly) so I have issues of snorting with my throat when I breathe and some dysphagia when swallowing.
My 2nd follow up will be this Month and there is a chance that another revision may be in the works to correct these problems. Maybe after a confirmed arthrodesis occurs we can remove the plate. SO not looking forward to having my throat hacked open for the third time.
Wow, I have come a long was since my original C5-6 Herniation back in 2006. I read that once one gets into this Cervical spine surgery mess, they become a repeat customer for life. Now I'm living proof of that.
This is why the Corporations are so keen on making these ADR's because they too have noticed how much profit there is in the C-spine Industry, and they too want a piece of the action. This is why the University Health Network here does not use any fancy gimmicks, NO ADR's, No Resorbable dissolving plates, no fancy plastic spacers and crap that is prone to failure, just fibular cortical Allografts packed with Autologous cancellous bone material.
It is noteworthy to mention here as well that the Bryan Disc that was pulled out of my C5-6 level was not deteriorated or damaged in vivo in any way. The disc did in fact function as advertised and it did provide me with lots of motion, just a little too much motion in my case.
It will take at least another decade before reliable real world data is available on whether or not these fancy ADR's actually prevent/retard adjacent segment disease
Another disappointment is that the greedy Corporate cockroaches at Medtronic won't even provide a refund for the $5K I spent on their Bryan Disc Monkey experiment, that Lasted me only 5 years and not the "Lifetime" warranty I was promised.
Regards,
Neck-rosis