Thanks very much for your quick reply.
I saw a shoulder surgeon before the second surgery, and he said that my shoulder was normal. The shoulder imaging studies state: There is no fracture or dislocation. The glenohumeral joint is well-maintained. Acromioclavicular joint is present. There is mild subacromial spurring.” The shoulder surgeon had viewed the problems as coming from my neck, and he replicated the symptoms when he moved my neck.
So it looks like my ACDF from last May is starting to fuse, with more fusion occurring over the last few months, and the Posterior surgery CT looks better than the pre-Posterior surgery CT. However the quality of life is pretty bad with the pain, and I really wanted to be back at work by now.
I know that your view was that the best approach was to re-do the ACDF. At this point I am somewhat desperate for relief, but don’t want to race into a third surgery in less than a year.
Do you think that time would let things heal (they seem to be getting worse rather than better). I feel like I am definitely worse after the second surgery. Is it possible that a posterior laminoforaminotomy could actually make the symptoms worse instead of better?
If it is chronic radiculopathy, how long does that take to heal generally?
If it is compressive radiculopathy, which makes sense, I would have thought that the posterior surgery would have helped, based on the CT findings, despite the anterior opsteophytes?
If the front fuses fully, will that help the pain and numbness?
Thanks so much.