?? about removal of C1 during surgery.......

[Guest guest]

ok folks, a quick ??

I am slotted for my zipping surgery on jan 14, and there is a

possibility of removal of C1, my ?? is this:

if C1 is removed, what are the post op results, will my neck be fused

so I cant turn it from side to side?

my hubby seems to think my spine (neck area) will be fused and I wont

be able to turn my head anymore,

sorry for the ignorance about this, but am getting more curious by

the day about my surgery and the C1 stuff.

have a better than average day,

Le

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Le King wrote:

> ok folks, a quick ??

> I am slotted for my zipping surgery on jan 14, and there is a

> possibility of removal of C1, my ?? is this:

> if C1 is removed, what are the post op results, will my neck be fused

> so I cant turn it from side to side?

> my hubby seems to think my spine (neck area) will be fused and I wont

> be able to turn my head anymore,

> sorry for the ignorance about this, but am getting more curious by

> the day about my surgery and the C1 stuff.

> have a better than average day,

Hi Le,

What the surgeon will do is remove a portion of C1. The link below talks

about a lumbar laminectomy, but the same is true for the cervical area.

http://www.spine-health.com/topics/surg/overview/lumbar/lumb04.html

The portion of the vertebrae that is removed is called the lamina.

I had a craniocervical fusion done in 1999 and my range of motion is limited,

but I still can move my head. I am fused from C4 to the skull because of

cranial settling.

Lots of members think they have had their vertebrae removed, so your

confusion is that of many :-) Best Wishes for a successful surgery, and a

speedy recovery.

Kathleen

[Guest guest]

dear Leanna,

Hi

I also had my C1 removed last March, and at first it was hard to turn my

head. my therapists said I had scar tissue and to massage it with lotion and

just give it time.

Oh My, at first it was so so painful. Just to touch it after the first

massage was horrible. Now I can turn my head, but because I also have a

inner ear problem, I have to still do it slow or I get sick. I couldn't

understand how removing C1 would still allow me to hold my head up, but I

can.

Good luck on your surgery.

debbi

[Guest guest]

There seems to be some confusion about this one folks .

As Chip wrote ...they don't remove the full vertabrae during lamenectomy

....only the center back of a given vertabrae is removed ...and following

healing /it should not be noticable that it was done in a functional /nor

feeling sense at all .

The head actually ballances /articulates on c2 ...not on c1 . C1 is a funny

little bone that is shaped without those wing sides that the head ballances

on .

I found that GENTLE stretching starting about 6-8 weeks post op , allowed a

quick return to full range of motion in my neck ...it is a bit stiff still

that last tiny bit of chin to shoulder stretch ...but nothing that would

cause you to wince .

I did wear the soft collar as instructed when ever awake and up and around

for that first three months . I took it off briefly to do the gentle

stretching .

Do pay attention if the neurosurgeon says don't lift your arms up over

shoulder height during that first 6 weeks - 3 months though . Doing so pushes

c1 up against the area of the dura graft and tonsils tissue and can cause

some internal swelling !

I did find that a nerve running up the back side of my neck to the occipital

area of my skull was very sensative and painful . My doctor at the pain

clinic explained that it is retracted -moved to the side during the surgery

to help create a clear access field to the area of the herniation ...and he

felt it had perhaps been stretched and would eventually settle down ( he

offered to inject it with a medication that would numb it out as well but I

turned that down ) .

This took several months to settle down and stop causing me some discomfort

....but it did do so eventually .

I hope that clears up a bit of the confusion ...one last bit too ...my

neurosurgeon explained that they try to avoid doing lamenectomys below c1 if

possible ( in my case by cauterising some tonsil tissue to shrink the tonsils

up to the level of just c1 ) because when they must do lamenectomy of c2 or

below ..they have found that there is a higher risk of cervical shifting

later ...in some cases leading to a need for additional surgery .

If your neurosurgeon were to sugest a need for lamenectomy below c1 ...I'd

ask if this might work instead ( not all neurosurgeons are cauterising

/shrinking tonsil tissue ) ...it made sense to me for him to do so .

in Paradise

[Guest guest]

Your head balances on the C1 so now my therapist said

that is what causes the inner ear like symptoms. I

can

move my head but I feel like I have perminent sea

sickness.

someone earlier this month said they were told they

had cerebreal tennis?

Is this what they are talking about?

I'm spending a lot of my time flat in bed because of

nausea, hugz, Debby

--- dbraddy@... wrote:

> dear Leanna,

> Hi

> I also had my C1 removed last March, and at first it

> was hard to turn my

> head. my therapists said I had scar tissue and to

> massage it with lotion and

> just give it time.

> Oh My, at first it was so so painful. Just to touch

> it after the first

> massage was horrible. Now I can turn my head, but

> because I also have a

> inner ear problem, I have to still do it slow or I

> get sick. I couldn't

> understand how removing C1 would still allow me to

> hold my head up, but I

> can.

> Good luck on your surgery.

> debbi

>

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