Reply #15: ACDFs

[Wildewolfe]

I've had to Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion surguries done. First on c5/6 and the 2nd on c4/5 after a car accident 6 months after the first one.

The surgeries themselves were not excessively painful. The first one, in fact, did not require any post surgical narcotics at all. I was in so much pain from the collapased disc before the surgery that even counting surgical pain I was in heaven after it (all the disc pain was gone).

The 2nd one didn't go as well as the first leaving some nerve damage and some residual pain, but even still it is an improvement to pre surgical conditions.

In both cases I was in a neck brace for 8 weeks after the surgery to let the fusion take hold. I used donor bone for both fusions. My frank advice is to do the same. Letting them take the bone chip for the fusion from your hip makes it much much much worse.

Feel free to message me if you want any more details on what all I went through with em.