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So to start I will give the back story. I had a dual level fusion, C4/5 C5/6 on August 27th. At the time the doctor also planned to do a posterior laminectomy in conjunction with the ACDF. However, the area I am stationed in (New Orleans area) got hit by a hurricane and the doctor determined it would be a bad idea to do both surgeries together with the area in such turmoil. We had to go ahead with at least the ACDF due to the fact that my spine was almost fully pinched and I was in danger of paralysis. Anyway, fast forward 8 weeks and I have a follow up with my Dr. (2nd followup to be exact) and he says that due to the problems I am still having that he feels we should go forward with the laminectomy surgery. My overall diagnosis was intervertebral disc herneation with myelopathy, cervical stenosis with myelopathy, and cervical spondylosis with myelopathy.

I am 28 years old active duty US Navy. The main point of this post is I am trying to get people's experiences with regards to recovering from a laminectomy of the cervical spine. I can't seem to find anything really that matches up. One site says day surgery another says 5 days in hospital one says realtively quick recovery another says months.

More Back Story / Symptoms

My lower left forearm feels like it is constantly on fire plus my ring and pinky finger on both hands are still numb. I have lost 20 pounds of strength in my left hand since my original ACDF surgery which freaked my physical therapist out and I think may be what prompted my Neurosurgeon to put the final nail in wanting me to get the laminectomy done.

As to what caused my issues it is a long drawn out story so if you don't want to read it stop now haha.

In 2007 I started having severe shoulder pains after tripping out of the back end of a 7 ton (military transport vehicle). I went to a military doctor and they said I had damaged the muscle in my shoulder and that it should go away with time. 6 months later I was still having pretty rough pain in my shoulder and neck along with stiffness. I went to a military doctor again and they sent me to a chiropractor for adjustments and electric stimulation to try and heal the muscle. Quit going to the chiropractor after 3 months, I was fed up with the process and decided to just deal with the pain. Purchased a personal use TENS machine which has been a god send for a while. 8 months ago I started having tingling an numbness in my left pinky and ring fingers. Went to a military doctor and was diagnosed with carpal tunnel and given a wrist brace and neurotin to try for 30 days to see if it helped. By the time 30 days were up I had electric shooting pains in both my legs and pain/sensitivity in my left forearm. This prompted my military doctor to set me up to see a neurologist. Took 2 months to get into the neurologist and they tested me, again for carpal tunnel. The neurologist had to do what Tricare approved her for however she put in a request back to my military doctor for a cervical MRI. That took about 3 weeks to get approved. Finally had an MRI and within 2 hours of the MRI I get a call from my military doctor telling me they are putting me in for an emergency consult with a neurosurgeon and that I need to be careful until I get in to see him. Took 1 week to see the neurosurgeon. He informed me that my spine was nearly fully compressed that I had a herniated disc, congenital spinal stenosis, both with myelopathy, and that if I did not have surgery there was every likelihood that I would end up paralyzed. So that my back story. Sorry its kinda lengthy.