C3-C7 fusion + 2 disc replacement

Triathlon Forum
1

as title says having a 4 vertebrae fusion and 2 discs replaced this friday. 3 mth recovery, no pt just time for screws to bond w/bone
spinal cord is damaged, nerves pinched - into surgery as soon as insurance and dr schedule allow

known i’ve needed it for years, hoping to wait 2 yrs for medicaid but latest mri pretty scary and i can’t
take the pain any longer (constant, unable to sleep much and of course very limited range of motion)
was able to recoup or roll over my ski passes

that’s all, carry on

2

sorry to hear

good luck
.

3

You’ve had spinal cord problems and waited years for surgery? This doesn’t add up. Anyhow, your perception of recovery time is way off. You’ll need a full year, especially with all the hardware going in. Good luck.

4

well i’ve known about the stenosis and impingement but not the extent of spinal cord damage
.

5

Are they able to correct stenosis with surgery?

Anyway, my father had a 3 level cervical fusion about 20 years ago, and knock on wood, has been problem free since. Hopefully you have a good outcome as well.

6

You’ve had spinal cord problems and waited years for surgery? This doesn’t add up. Anyhow, your perception of recovery time is way off. You’ll need a full year, especially with all the hardware going in. Good luck.

3 months does not sound too overly optimistic depending on what level the OP wants to be back to by that stage.
A full year to get back to baseline is probably about right, mainly from the time spent not training and then recovering.

7

allegedly - bone shaving on vertebrae so nerves/spine aren’t pinched and shavings are used in the disc replacement
.

8

Good luck!

2 level Cervical fusion (C4-C6 plus 4 level Lumbar/Thoracic (T10-L2)fusion all with Laminectomy here. Mine was caused from trauma with several fractures up and down my spine. No meaningful cord damage luckily

Back and neck brace for ~5 months before I exercised again. 6 months after that I did my very first triathlon (a very slow Oly, but I completed!), became a crossfitter for a couple of years, and have since done multiple 70.3 and full IM.

No meaningful impact to life at this point. You’ll have a bit more cervical impact than me, but you’ll be back.

9

good to hear
wonder if my spinal damage is from a a few trauma incidents over the years; hard to know
as my only over MRI is from more than 12 years ago it doesn’t seem to exist anymore

after 4 weeks i can ride an upright stationary bike, only walking till then
no lifting for 3 mths of anything over 5 lbs, just hoping to look back a year from now and being
glad i had it done
.