Anybody else here have spinal surgery (fusion) done?

Hey guys.. hoping someone out there can provide some insight for me as far as:

• 
  type of surgery and date

• 
  how physically active you are now

• 
  what are your limitations

Also, this one is probably a stretch, but were you ever able to go back to real uninhibited training ? (I know Tito had the same surgery I had but not every case is the same and.. he's a freakin pro athlete and I'm just an average joe)

I had a single level fusion done at C5-6 but I now have a huge herniation at C6-7 thats sitting right on my spinal cord and also another herniation above at C4-5 that hasn't really gotten better after about 1.5 years of therapy, so my neurosurgeon wants to fuse those two levels as well and make it a 3 level unanimous fusion (with instrumentation).

Thanks in advance

 

C5-6 ACDF January 2011

Very active w/o any limitations. Started lifting again about 3-4 months post-surgery with light weights that ramped up considerably during the summer. I dictated my initial decision to lift and early progression on how my body felt.

I'm stronger and better conditioned now than before my surgery. It was only a single level though.

 

I am very glad to hear that. I currently only have a single fusion, and at the exact same spot as you. How long did you rehab post op? Was the main rehab exercise the "chin-tucks" ?

So it sounds like you are able to do everything you want to do ? No residual pain, no radiculopathy?

edit: Sorry I also wanted to ask: how bad were you physically before you got the surgery? i.e. symptoms, limitations


Thanks

 

My dad has 2 vertebrae fused in his neck. Before the surgery, he was in absolutely horrendous pain. The surgery fixed the pain, except for it caused the discs around to start degenerating more. The doc would like to fuse more. He already has limited mobility in his neck from the first and would hardly be able to turn his neck with a second fusion.
Before his surgery, he asked the doc why they couldn't do something to repair the disc instead of fusing it, but the doc didn't give a straight answer. Since the, he's found out that the good docs are using silicone or something to fix the discs instead of fusing them, and lrepairing the disc does not cause increased degeneration in the surrounding discs like fusion does. The problem is finding a doc to do the repair, since most prefer to do the fusion.
And my dad was told to never lift anything heavier than 45 lbs, as even after the surgery, his neck spasms like a SOB on random occasions, usually when he's trying to build up his strength.

 

Nov 27, 2010 I had single level anterior/posterior laminectomy lumbar fusion to repair stenosis that had been forming, completely unbeknownst to me, for 25 years since I cracked a vertebra in college. 4 months rehab and have been back on the mats 6x a week ever since. No pain, but lost some flexibility. Amazing surgeon, fantastic outcome. Good luck!