My Experience With Peyton's Surgery

[unitaswestand]

I really think far too much is being made out of Manning's recovery and that he likely will not ever play again just because at this point he isn't feeling so much better.

I had that same procedure that Peyton had, only a week earlier. I can tell you what I went through and what I learned. Now, given, I don't claim to be an NFL quarterback, but at least the healing process is about the same. I was told it would take probably 3 months for the bone fusion to even start. Before that time, it is likely I would feel weakness and numbness in my arms and hands until things stabilized, which is what I experience right now. My left arm is weaker than my right, but that is expected from this surgery. Between 3-6 months is the fusion taking and solidifying. And it can take up to a full year for the person to completely recover from this surgery.

On the good side, the disc pain I have had for years is mostly gone. I can turn much better than I could before.

So I really think it is far too premature to speculate whether he will play or not. I was told there was a 80% chance I would be pain free after surgery and be better than ever. But it does take time. My fusion hasn't started yet, but I can feel the relief of the pain I had before. My expectation is by the end of the year, Peyton will be throwing the ball just as he did previously and he will be fine. He neck will actually be stronger, with the fusion, then it was before when the disk could bulge at any point.

None of us can know and can only guess, but I expect next year he will have the best year he has had in 4 years.

[Susie Q]

Thanks for the good post.( Unitaswestand ) Hope your feeling better every day.

[coltsblue1844]

Thank you, and I completely agree! It really drives me nuts to see everyone dwelling on negatives and proclaiming him to be "done"...they all did the exact same thing with Austin Collie last year, and that drove me nuts, too! People have a tendency to REALLY over react and negative stuff seems to be more fun to write about/talk about than the positives.

Another thing that bugs me is the whole "he's had 3 neck surgeries in the past 19 months...". To hear people talk about it, you would think that he had had a broken neck! the first TWO surgeries were very minor, non invasive procedures that were basically attempts at a "quick fix"...this last surgery is the only REAL procedure he had, to fix the issue, and there are SEVERAL currently active NFL players who have had the same thing done...and lots of them are at positions that take hits on every single play, unlike the Quarterback!

Dan Marino had the same problem, in his career, but he elected to NOT have the surgery...he said at one point, his arm was so weak that he couldnt even lift a fork to eat with...yet after time, everything returned to normal, and he was able to continue playing. What a lot of people dont realize is that by HAVING the surgery, Peyton's neck will actually be STRONGER once it heals, not weaker.

Joe Montana also had a very similar surgery on his back, and was able to come back and do just fine...And i would be shocked if Peyton wasnt able to do the same.

[Coltssouth]

Thank you. Good post and thanks for sharing your personal experience with the same procedure.

I agree with SusieQ. Hope you keep recovering well each day

[mightisright]

Hope you recover fully! And here's hoping Manning does too!

[unitaswestand]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I can already tell that I will be better than I was before surgery. And I might also mention that, like Peyton, I had a few failed procedures beforehand. But they were more to manage pain rather than fix the problem. From my understanding, the procedures Peyton has were options I had as well, which was to basically manage the pain but could never really fix the core problem. That disk is going to continue to buldge. At some point, you have to make the decision you are just going to fix the core problem.

Since mine was before Peytons, I kidded my friends he copied me.

Again, I don't know the future, but I full expect Peyton to be back and better than ever. Once that bone fuses, it will be a great relief.

[Susie Q]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I can already tell that I will be better than I was before surgery. And I might also mention that, like Peyton, I had a few failed procedures beforehand. But they were more to manage pain rather than fix the problem. From my understanding, the procedures Peyton has were options I had as well, which was to basically manage the pain but could never really fix the core problem. That disk is going to continue to buldge. At some point, you have to make the decision you are just going to fix the core problem.

Since mine was before Peytons, I kidded my friends he copied me.

Again, I don't know the future, but I full expect Peyton to be back and better than ever. Once that bone fuses, it will be a great relief.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I can already tell that I will be better than I was before surgery. And I might also mention that, like Peyton, I had a few failed procedures beforehand. But they were more to manage pain rather than fix the problem. From my understanding, the procedures Peyton has were options I had as well, which was to basically manage the pain but could never really fix the core problem. That disk is going to continue to buldge. At some point, you have to make the decision you are just going to fix the core problem.

Since mine was before Peytons, I kidded my friends he copied me.

Again, I don't know the future, but I full expect Peyton to be back and better than ever. Once that bone fuses, it will be a great relief.

I want to tell you that it's nice to read a post that there is a good chance that you feel Peyton will recover instead of reading all those post about trading Peyton and that Luck will be our savior. I too feel in given time and not 2 months Peyton will be seeing some improvement with the nerves and he will be back and hopefully better than he ever was. I have always tried to be optimistic about things. We can't worry about things that are out of our control. Peyton needs good thoughts from his fans and put the negative thoughts to rest for a while. Well all need to be optimistic about his full recovery, JMO again.

[WSO]

Mannings situation aside, its good to hear you're recovering.

[DeathCo]

I have said this before.. If I were a betting man, I would always bet on manning.

If the recent (recent meaning the past 10 years) history has shown, is that Manning is as close to a sure bet as you are ever going to get in this game.

So if you are going to play the averages, bet on Manning...Plain and simple.

So, why don't we all just calm down and give the man a chance before we all start freaking out and scream the sky is falling.

He has a very good chance to come back as good as ever...so lets wait and wish him luck in his recovery and wait until next year before we freak out.

[shaunzo]

Good stuff, feel better, you and Peyton!

[basketballsteve]

My wife had the exact same surgery as Peyton (a fusion with bone graph at c4-c5) nearly 3 years ago. My wife was 53 when she had the surgery in good physical shape before the surgery and became aware of the issue in her neck only because she began to have migrane headaches everyday. It's been a long slow recovery and she only began to improve when she stopped taking all medication and began using other therapies to cope (i.e. stretching). The medications made everything worse except she still has to take a migrane medication from time to time. The nerve did not begin to regenerate until she stopped taking medication. The nerve damage that can be done from this ailment is very real and significant. I think in Peyton's case however, my guess is that he has done the "right" thing from day one after the surgery, limit get rid of pain medication(s) and start right away with rehabilitation therapies to deal with regenerating the nerve. I will say the thing that has given my wife the most relief and progress is regular extended sessions of stretching but she had no advice from doctor's to do anything like this she had to come to that solution on her own. I will say this, if anyone can come back from this injury I believe it is Peyton.

[Nadine]

well this was a really good thread for me to start my game day with

Thanks for sharing your experience unitas,

I'm feeling much less pessimistic because of it

Hope you continue to see improvement and are better than ever soon!

[bluefan]

Thanks for such a positive thread amongst all the negativity!

[doogansquest]

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better, Unitaswestand. You will not find the negative ninnies in here, unfortunately, wishing you or Peyton well.

It is my firm belief that some around here don't even want him to get better. They want him to be done, yet we will somehow trade him for value, then we will draft Luck, and everything will turn out as it did for the Packers, or better. They live in Madden-world, not the real one.

Sorry to go sideways there. Really, this is good news!

[Gonzo]

I really think far too much is being made out of Manning's recovery and that he likely will not ever play again just because at this point he isn't feeling so much better.

I had that same procedure that Peyton had, only a week earlier. I can tell you what I went through and what I learned. Now, given, I don't claim to be an NFL quarterback, but at least the healing process is about the same. I was told it would take probably 3 months for the bone fusion to even start. Before that time, it is likely I would feel weakness and numbness in my arms and hands until things stabilized, which is what I experience right now. My left arm is weaker than my right, but that is expected from this surgery. Between 3-6 months is the fusion taking and solidifying. And it can take up to a full year for the person to completely recover from this surgery.

On the good side, the disc pain I have had for years is mostly gone. I can turn much better than I could before.

So I really think it is far too premature to speculate whether he will play or not. I was told there was a 80% chance I would be pain free after surgery and be better than ever. But it does take time. My fusion hasn't started yet, but I can feel the relief of the pain I had before. My expectation is by the end of the year, Peyton will be throwing the ball just as he did previously and he will be fine. He neck will actually be stronger, with the fusion, then it was before when the disk could bulge at any point.

None of us can know and can only guess, but I expect next year he will have the best year he has had in 4 years.

Excellent post. Gl with your recovery.

[Curveball]

Thanks for sharing your story. I wish you a full and speedy recovery.

I share your optimism regarding Peyton. I expect him to come with a great season in 2012.