Anterior Cervical discectomy surgery!?
Help! My husband is having this surgery Thursday and is petrified of what will happen….can someone please tell me just precisely WHAT they do pre-surgery and post?
Thank you!
Good luck hun.. My husband just had it about 3 weeks ago. The surgery is pretty routine.
Pre-surgery he will have an EKG, x-ray and some blood work done.
Post surgery he will probably be in the hospital for about 3 days. He will hurt like hell the first 24 hours but fortunately he should have one of those pain medication clickers. By day 2, he should be more awake from the surgery and able to eat solid food. If his doctor has any heart, he will have removed the urine catheter by now (tell him don’t worry, they don’t insert that until he is already under anesthesia.) On day 2 also, physical therapy should be down after the guy that delivers his back brace has come and gone, to help him to get up and walking again. Day 3 he should be feeling more human and will probably be discharged.
Once you get home, be very aware of how many times you are having to change his dressing. Unfortunately, my husband ended up with a spinal fluid leak (which is common with this type of surgery) and ended up in another surgery 3 days after he got home.
While at home you will also want to make sure that he is eating, using the bathroom well (be prepared, you will have to help him when he has a BM since he cannot twist to cleanse himself). You will also want to get him some Metamucil or such to ensure that he is going regularly. A big side effect of spinal surgery we were told is constipation.
You need to make sure that you husband wears his back brace exactly as his doctor says. It is there to make sure the he heals properly.
My husband is a former smoker, so he also has to wear a bone stimulator for 6 months to ensure that his fusion takes as it should.
My husband’s comment on your hubby having this surgery is, “Don’t be scared, your doctor has done this surgery many, many times. Even though you will hurt for a week or so, you can’t imagine how much better you will feel just a few weeks after surgery!”
TO YOU THE WIFE – You are really going to have to help your husband a lot throughout this process. I made the mistake of staying away 20 hours a day because I was scared that he would need a pain pill, or to use the restroom and would try to get it himself and hurt himself. Make sure that you don’t neglect you in the process. Make sure that you get enough sleep. I was scared to sleep in the same bed as him because I could just imagine rolling over and hitting his wound. Good luck and it will all be okay. He will soon be the man that you remember before the back pain!
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