Very unrealistic timelines on recovery. Yes, it’s outpatient, but the body needs time to heal before it can get back to normal functions consistently. I recently had 2 discs replaced and found the healing process takes weeks, not days. While I’m sure there is a wide range of variables, I can say returning to a 9-5 desk job 2-weeks after surgery is optimistic. 4-weeks is realistic, and 6-weeks is a real possibility, especially if you have other issues with your back outside the discs that were replaced.
I agree. I had C6-7 disc replacement a month ago and the nerve pain was gone when I woke up but 4 days later, it came back with a vengeance. I'm being sent for an MRI to determine what the problem is but the surgeon can just claim they can't always take the nerve pain away if the MRI shows nothing wrong. This idea that just because it's outpatient, it's easy peasy is ridiculous because it's still spine surgery.
I'm 5 months post op c5-c6 disc replacement. Felt good first two months now I have a lot of nerve pain symptoms return - burning and aches in shoulder blade and stiffness around neck. Do you think nerve healing really takes this long?
