Laura T
I was injured on the job April 14, 2000. I have had therapy and steroid injections which hadn't helped. I had the neck pain, shoulder pain and tingling and numbness. I had surgery March 6th. My herniation was C4-C5. The surgeon did discectomy with fusion meaning that he removed the bad disc and replaced it with a piece of bone from a cadaver then secured it with a titanium plate. So far I am not in any more pain then I was before but at least the pain medication helps now whereas it didn't before. Not to mention that the pain is different. It is still to early to tell but it does seem that the surgery is doing the trick. The surgery itself wasn't all that bad either. I only had to spend the night in the hospital just to make sure that I was breathing ok. Was I scared? yes BUT I was more scared of not taking a chance and having the possibility of being pain free. Oh I am 35 years old and have a 17 year old and a 14 year old, along with a husband who has been a nervous wreck.