I had ACDF at C5-7 in 2008. I spent one night in the hospital and was discharged home (2 hours away) in a soft collar with a hefty prescription of opioids (with refills) , told to not lift more than 10 pounds and that I needed to wear the collar "while up and around" for "a few days" but "if it really bugs you then don't worry about it" . I was driving within a week, and returned to work (I was a manager at a Kohls) in 10 days with some restrictions.
I recovered really well, did some pt, fusion healed well, etc. Nearly 20 years on I've developed ASD that will require removal of my old hardware and fusing C4-5 to my existing fusion.
I have not set my surgery date yet, retiring next month and traveling to my youngest child's wedding across the country in June so it's going to wait until after.
My surgeon tells me I'll be in the hospital "a few days", have drains placed - didn't have those before but I understand that's probably due to the hardware removal- but the recovery timetable seems to much slower and more conservative than my 2008 surgery. In reading about others' recovery here, I'm guessing I'll be in a hard collar for weeks, restricted from driving for some time, etc
I know I'm older and I'd expect to recover a bit slower in my early 60s than I did in my mid 40s. And I now have an autoimmune illness to work around. But it seems recovery protocols for everyone have become longer, slower and more conservative. Medical technology advances usually lead to less complicated, faster recoveries. What am I missing here?