Undergoing Surgery

Hi all...I am new  to this forum so please bear with me...here's my story...please give opinions...write back...
I woke up on Dec 15th 2009 with neck pain that I related to "sleeping wrong"...I went on to work that morning with some Ibuprofen on board...I am a nurse who works 3 different areas of our hospital...Medical/Surgical...ICU...and OB...and also 12 hr shifts...this day happen to be the beginning of a 4 day stretch...so I continued on with the tightness and soreness not going away...chalked it up to "sleeping wrong"...Ibuprofen became my friend:)  and I bought new pillows for our bed...by the end of that 4 day stretch I was starting to get concerned because I was having some pain/spasms down my L arm...so I went and saw my GP who diagnosed 2 pinched nerves...Flexeril and Solumedrol Pack given...come back if needed(I worked for him for 3 years so it's a more relaxed relationship more so then your normal MD/Patient)...took my meds...continued working...felt a little better at the beginning of the steroid pack but by the end of the pack where I was taking the lower doses all the pain/spasms came back...so I had visit number 2 with my GP...this was mid Feb...by this point I was having the pain/spasms and some tingling in my last 2 digits of my L hand...so another Steroid Pack and Valium now...since I can't take Valium and work at the same time...I was having trouble combining the 2 and was taking less Valium than I would have been if I wasn't working...On March 6th I was working the ICU with 2 vent patients...very large males...this was the last day of a 3 day work 1 day off 3 day work schedule...so needless to say that one day isn't much of a recovery time...so the 6th was the end of my stretch...towards mid shift I started getting sweaty...had had a couple of heart palpitations that took my breath and I knew something was odd...but hey I was in the ICU...what better place right...by the end of shift I was in sooooo much pain...I had burning...spasms...heart palpitations...so I had a Cervical MRI done that showed a herniated C6-7 and a bulging C5....I immediately was put on Medical Leave and placed on Comp...I started conservative therapy with PT with no success...I had 3 cervical injections done with no success...at times I had some relief but all the symptoms came back in a week or two...now I am a very active person normally....but during this time I was basically on bed rest cause I was in soooo much pain...so it wasn't like I was aggravating the injury....so I was referred to our local Ortho MD who specializes in Cervical Procedures...we weighed out my options and beings that the conservative therapy along with meds hadn't worked he thought it was time to have surgery...now we all know how Work Comp is so after all the hoops I had to jump through to get the surgery we jump up to current date cause I will spare you all with the exciting details of the 8 month battle it took me to get the surgery approved while all along becoming worse and worse...so currently I have little to no grip in my L hand...No reflexes in any part of the arm...tingling and numbness...burning...spasms...pain...from neck down L arm to L fingertips...all this WITH meds...so my surgery is on Monday...I am having an Anterior Cervical Fusion at C6-7 with ACDR(artificial disc) at C5-6...I've seen 3 diff Cervical docs and all agree the only way to get the arm back and lessen the symptoms is surgery...the one who is doing the surgery is the local MD I had went to the first time...he expects that I may have some nerve damage in that arm due to the degree of the symptoms now and how long the nerves have been pinched but he believes he can get me back to at least where I can go back to work....I know that I have taken care of MANY patients with all sorts of diagnosis but I have only ever had a C-Section and Tubal Ligation....so I guess my question is:
Is there anyone out there that has had this surgery or similar one and what can I expect in my recovery phase...I know what I was told by the "medical field" I'm part of it...but I would like to hear from real folks....thanks for your time...
Sarah

[NurseGoody]

Well thanks everyone for your input...not that you all cared all that much beings I had no comments...but had my surgery and at my 2 wk check up all seemed fine...I hope everyone finds the comfort they need although people don't seem to like to talk on this "forum"
Take Care....