RA and cervical surgery

[Guest guest]

On the 22nd of this month I am having cervical fusion surgery. The Dr, a good

one, is going to take out 2 " severely herniated " discs, install an artificial

bone chip between the vertebrae and install metal spacers to hold the distance

between the 3 vertebrae properly so they can " fill in " . This

whiplash/degenerating disc damage is not from RA- I lost a fight with a heifer

when I was 17- let's just say I flew well but the telephone pole wasn't very

soft when I slammed into it. They really should cushion those things.

So far my rheumy has put a hold on my Orencia infusion for this month. My

surgeon has to give the go ahead for me to take the December one. He said he

will OK it if I am healing up the way he hopes I will. I have had a sinus

infection again so I had to quit taking my Arava. Am finally making headway, pun

intended, on the infection. My pharmacist told me it will be OK for me to

continue taking my beloved Darvoset nightly.

I understand that I'm NOT to take anything aspirin-based between now and the

surgery. I'm rather excited at the idea of NO lifting, no housework, & no

driving for 10 days. After all....I get TOTAL control of the Dish Network

controller, we just subscribed to Netflix on my Wii (downloads are unbelievably

slow though) and a friend is bringing me the first season of True Blood to keep

me happy.

I do know the surgeon is " going in " via the front of my throat and that I will

have a " soft collar " on for at least 10 days. But, and it's a big but, what else

am I missing? My rheumy doesn't think I had RA when I had my last surgery. How

might this FAB-u-lous RA affect my surgery? Are the odds good that I'm going to

heal up more slowly than I should? My last bloodwork showed moderate

inflammation levels. Will this surgery aggravate the inflammation? These are

questions I should have asked my rheumy but he is so incredibly hard to get

ahold of. His partner rheumy left their practice a few months ago so he's trying

to take care of a double patient load. I'm still going to have this surgery

regardless of any answers....I'm just curious as to what I might expect?

In closing: I miss Stan and . Since Stan has been " incognito " so long I'm

wondering if finally got the upper hand and has made Stan into a fellow

sock monkey? Stan- I don't think I ever emailed you or commented on your posts

but I read and reread every one- you made me cry some but you really gave me

laughter when I needed it. I hope someone is making you laugh and brightening

your day!