New member c5-c6 Prestige 7-2-09

[Meli]

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and am a little overwhelmed! I wish I had found it before surgery. I am 3 months out and am suprised and disappointed by my progress or lack thereof. I have had lots of problems with my throat, a feeling of something pushing on the back of it, to the point of spontaneous gagging. Had a barium swallow where I could watch the food moving around the new hardware in my neck. I lost about 20 pounds, but this has leveled out a bit now. I can eat now, but have a very poor appetite.

I am still having lots of back, neck and shoulder pain. I am going to P.T. twice a week, but sometimes I do feel they overdo with the suggested exercises. I have bought a home ultrasound machine and my husband uses that on my neck and shoulder area nightly. I also have a TENS unit that I use occasionally, but I'm not sure it really helps. I am taking only Ibuprofen for the pain. I would love to find someone who had this same type of surgery and hear when their real turning point came. Anyone 6 mo to a year out? I was anticipating this being a month long recovery....did NOT do research, took the surgeon and P.T's advice. Surgeon came highly recommended as conservative.

I've browsed through this site, but am having trouble finding recent cervical type recovery info - more on lumbar area.
Thanks for any advice, personal or for directing me to a specific area of this great site!

[Harrison]

Melissa, sorry about long delay in replying to your topic & question! How are you? Did you get the information that you were looking for? Are you still doing PT?

[Meli]

Unfortunately, no, no answers. It is uncomfortable for me to type so had not gone into lots of details. I actually had a barium swallow done which shows that my esophageal opening is only 7mm at the c5 level. This is approximately half of what it should be (15-20mm average) . I am over 3 mo. out and continue to feel a pressure in my throat constantly and am still losing weight. I am also having almost constant pain across shoulders and between shoulder blades. I have 3 more sessions of PT left. I have tried one massage, didn't seem to help with the pain, only with relaxation.

I am considering a 2nd opinion post -op to see if another surgeon has answers. My doc just keeps saying he thinks these things will resolve, but it will just take time.

Anyone else have a barium swallow post-op due to dysphagia? Any words of wisdom for me? I don't want to seek a second opinion too soon...

Thanks - Meli

[Harrison]

Have you had any imaging studies post-op? This would potentially put your mind at ease.

[Meli]

I have had 3 sets of c-spine x-rays, but that's all. Surgeon assures me that everything looks good.

Have you heard of anyone else that has actually had a barium swallow that documents loss of space in the esophagus due to the hardware that was placed? The Prestige sure seems like a big bulky thing when you look at it on x-ray.
I don't have another appt. with my surgeon until mid- December.
Melissa

[Harrison]

Yes, Melissa, a few folks that I know of had the barium swallows for daignostic purposes. But I can't say exactly what was found...nothing concerning or causative.

We've talked quite a bit about the use of NSAIDs post-operatively for cervical patients that receive the ProDisc or the PrestigeC. It is thought that these can prevent any excessive bone "overgrowth" after ADR; and it may help prevent heterotopic ossification or unwanted overgrowth of bone. But it sounds like you and your doc determined that this is NOT an issue. That said, what has been your NSAID consumption since your ADR?

Inflammation itself can be caused by a number of different factors, but this should not be an issue for you now given how many months post-op you are. Please keep digging, ask for a referral to another doc, etc.

There are some other folks on here that have similar experiences. I hope that they can chime in to add to this topic.