C-Sp Surg. Recovery time

Dear Ask The Doctor: I had c-spine surgery. Laminectomes were performed from c3-c7 also with formaninotomies, to open the spaces to the lateral nerves. There was spinal compression at 4 levels and extreme narrowing of the foramina at all levels. I began to loose muscle mass with weakness, numbness, and pain. Rods were used bilaterally from c3 to c7, with bone fusion. The result is pain at the C-7, T-1 junction, with trap muscle pain at the base of my neck. I am a large frame male, 6', 250lbs. I work at a hospital ER as a ct tech. I move dead weight patients from stretcher to gantry beds. The real question I'm getting at is: How long should I be in recovery? How long in therapy? Its been two months now and work is clamoring for me to come back. I can still take another month from family leave and I still have sick time.

Dear Russell: Recovery time for spinal surgery varies for different individuals. Recovery is usually measured by the patient's response to physical therapy and ability to perform routine daily tasks. Most person recover sufficiently to return to work after about 3 months. However, since your job requires heavy lifting your recovery period may be a little longer. It is difficult to say just how much longer it will take. You should judge your recovery by your response to physical therapy.