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Originally Posted by Chick Webb
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Unfortunately developed new trouble at C-7/T-1 on the left side starting in March and now I've got constant pain behind my left shoulder blade and down the outside of my left arm. Have a C-7/T-1 laminectomy/foraminotomy w/possible discectomy scheduled for a week from today. This one's too low on the neck so they have to go in from the back, which involves a pretty large and deep incision. I expect recovery to be shorter (no waiting on bones to grow), but more painful. Hope to be able to hit the links sometime early next year, god and my surgeon willing.
If there's one thing I've learned as I've aged, teeth and joints were not made to last beyond about 50 years. Getting old is not for the faint of heart.
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The curvature and flexible discs are like a shock absorber for the spine. When you fuse several of them, it transmits all the force to the adjacent joints (like in the old days when they would put a jacking plug into coil springs to lift a car, and that is where the spring would break). It is very common for people to return to the activities that caused the initial problem, once the pain goes away - then with this concentration of force, the adjacent discs don't last long.
I'd suggest that you find a physical therapist who has experience with back/neck fusions, and have them work with you on posture and mechanics (often some strength/stretching too). They may also have some suggestions about changing some of you current activities that are contributing. And NOT those bozo's at the gym who are 'exercise physiologists' or whatever - a real PT, ideally associated with a hospital that has a spinal cord unit.