all cervical people your opinion please!!!!!

[Cervical_Fusion]

Tweety I had a c5-c6 fusion with hardware. He went in from the front, I have a stright 3 or so inch scar today from it. I was cut in a
way that the scar today just looks like a wrinkle. Most people to not reconize it as a scar just a fold in the skin. I never had to wear the miami j collar. I only had a soft collar. The dr told me he did not like the hard collars and only uses the soft ones. I had to wear the collar for 6 weeks. He also told me I would be able to return to work in 6 weeks but I did not return for 18 months. Because I was one of the those people who's body reacted differently then most do. Anyways I stayed in the hospital from 2 or 3 days before I was released because they wanted to make sure i could have a good bowel movement before going home. I was in a lot of pain and they had one of those pain pumps that i could push for the pain meds as I needed it. My throat was swollen and boy I would hardly swallow and developed a terrible cough from it. They told me the reason it was so hard to swallow and I was coughing was because they have to move a lot of things around in your throat area while they have u open, for them to get to the disc that they fused. As time went on it got easeir to swallow and the cough went away. I do remember I was sent for several IME soon after the surgrey, and they all said I was not ready to return to work as it was very difficult for me to hold my head up straight, that was even after the collar came off. The stitches were done mostly inside the incesion excpet for a few that were outside, but they were covered by a bandage, I beleive after the first week or 2 I went back to the surgeon and he changed the bandage. Finally at one of the visits he took the bandage off and did not put another one back on. The stitches pretty much dissolved on there on. But I remember the hardest thing for me to do after comming home was getting comfortable enought to sleep. The surgeon only sent me home with darvocet and only enough for a very short time, but I still had pain pills at home that I had before the surgrey so I took them. Darvocet did nothing to help the pain I needed more. But again resting was very difficult. I slept out in the living room on the sofa bed (pull out kind of bed) that was because the bed n the bed room was much higher off the floor and it was very had to get out of. The sofa bed was lower my wife had to help me out of bed for a few days and then I got to were I could roll out somehow. But get your self a lot of pillows and pillows of different kids of stuffings. So you can find the ones that feel best for you. I tried sleeping on 2 and 3 at a time. Did not work for me. You will find what will work for you. Today I have found I can only sleep with one pillow, and I have found one of those theraputic styles of pillows or memory foam work best for me, I take it with me everywhere I go if staying away from home. I hope this hlep you in some way, I never had no one to inform me on what to expect as I went into it blind. But you will do fine, and as someone say in one of there post . drink a lot... drink drink drink. as it will sooth your throat and help with that swelling. Eat soft food jello, broaths, soups..Took me a few weeks on that to get to the point I felt I could eat more normal things, I remember when I felt I could eat regular foods, man I wanted a hamburger, and boy did it taste good ( I thought I had died and went to heaven with that first burger). Good luck I am sure you will do fine just follow the dr's orders and you will do great. I will not tell you that u will not be sore. I do remember the pain I was having before the surgery was a heck of a lot worse than what I had after surgrey. The pain down the arm went away, and the bad pain in the neck went away, but today I am left with a different kind of pain, and a lot of spinal headaches now.. and limited range of motion. Good Luck if u have any question I will try to help you with them.