Hi, Welcome back to icliniq.com.
Thanks for your appreciation. Almost all spine surgeries are major surgeries. They are all more in severity than most other surgeries in the body. The surgery can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. You should be able to get up the next day. You may need to wear a collar for some period after surgery. There is going to be some pain for a week or two, should be controlled with standard pain medication. The above aspects may be different for different surgeons and hospitals. Please refer to your spine surgeon for details on these aspects. Minor and common complications include pain while swallowing and temporary hoarseness of voice. Pain in the area of bone graft harvest, if performed. Major complications are uncommon and include possible injury to the spinal cord, food pipe, nerves and blood vessels, blood collection pressing on breathing pipe. Long term complications can include lack of healing or fusion, disc degeneration in an adjacent level and needing further surgery. This is in no way a comprehensive list and your surgeon should be able to discuss all these in detail with you prior to surgery. Sleep apnea is usually in the area of the upper throat and your surgery is near the lower throat or neck. So, the surgery as such should not complicate your sleep apnea. However, your anesthesiologist will have to keep in mind your history of sleep apnea while he puts you to sleep and wakes you up after surgery. This is routine for any surgery. In cervical myelopathy, often the symptoms are mild. But, the clinical signs elicited in a detailed neurological examination are more important.Your spine surgeon did find positive Hoffman and exaggerated reflexes, which are important signs that tell us that the spinal cord is not comfortable in the tight space. If you had no clinical signs or symptoms, but had the MRI picture as you have now, then surgery would not have been anyone's suggestion. As I mentioned previously, the spinal cord can acclimatize to tighter spaces if the compression has been very gradual. So, it is not uncommon to find some patients with MRI like yours, but no clinical signs and symptoms. It is very essential that your physician performs a complete examination and correlates with the MRI. Avoid walking on slippery surfaces and try not to run on uneven surfaces. Avoid any activities with risk of falling. Preferably avoid two wheelers. I would not want to forbid you from travelling by car, air, bus, etc. The risk is too low in such travel, but you never know. Lifting weights should be avoided as this can strain your discs with further bulging.