It is hard to believe that it has been 7 years since my first neck surgery.   I say that because although a part of me feels like it has been a lifetime that I have been dealing with the pain from it, there is another part of me that has a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that life changed so drastically for me 7 years ago.

Prior to having my 1st surgery, I had been dealing with neck pain and the side effects of the damage to my spine, for about 20 years.   It of course, progressively got worse over the years.  At first, I would have occasional flare ups, where I wouldn’t be able to lift my head off the pillow in the morning.  On those days, my husband would literally have to come lift me from my shoulders, supporting my neck/head and lift my upper body up so I could sit up.   When I would have that kind of a flare up, I generally ended up on a heating pad for a couple of days.  I had been to our regular doctor, when I had one of these episodes, and had been given muscle relaxers to use when I had a flare up.   For the most part, they did the trick and I was able to return to work within a day or so and continue on with my normal activities, raising kids, taking care of the house, working, etc.  I would generally only have a flare up like that about every 4-6 months.   I knew at the time as I went through those episodes that eventually it would reach a point that I would have to make a different decision as far as treatment went.  I was right, as they started happening more frequently and the symptoms became increasingly worse. read more