Anyone had Spinal Fusion with Ependymoma removal surgery?

[Tamera]

My husband has C7 Ependymoma and has surgery scheduled at Mayo. His surgeon has recommended spinal fusion on two discs above and two below the surgery site. This is optional and can be done during the tumor removal surgery, or the fusion surgery can be done at a later time if the problem occurs. Reason given is that some ependymoma patients post-surgery develop a "head drop" and have problems holding up the head.  He also has concerns of recovery, mobility and overall outcome with the fusion, considering the challenge of recovery of the Ependymoma removal alone.

Has anyone had experience with any aspect of this?

[das]

I was suggested fusion as well (C4 and C5) to prevent Kyphosis. I declined the fusion and elected to work on my poster and strengthening my neck muscles. Coming up on four years since my surgery I'm doing pretty good.

[Tamera]

Thanks for your feedback!

[Guest]

My neurosurgeon advised against fusion due to concern for mobility issues and difficulty reading future follow up mri's assessing tumor regrowth. I'm 5 years post surgery and have kyphosis. It is not really progressing. I have fairly good range of motion though and also have to do neck exercises.

[jaimee]

Hi, am just new to site, going in for surgery in June, because I only just found out that I have a tumour, i was wondering if you could give me any insight on recovery, or what helped you get through, as i don't know how to support my family, i know to stay positive but there are so many unknowns for me and I know everyone is different, but some or any insight is better than how i feel right now, I am sorry, I am unable to give you any information but i hope after all of this i am able to help others out.

[Tamera]

I have not been on the site for awhile since my husband did have surgery. Thanks to "Guest" from April 20 for your info. And to Jaimee, your question may not be directed to me, but you probably know as much as I do by now if your surgery was in June. My husband's surgery was June 23. He had an ependymoma resection at C7 (inside the cord), laminectomy and spinal fusion. We are about 5 weeks post surgery. My husband developed a spinal hematoma and was discovered 4 days after surgery via a follow-up MRI. We don't know if the bleed occurred immediately post surgery or a couple of days later. He has come out of it all with numbness from the waist down (is it from surgery or the bleed compressing the cord??). The surgeon strongly believes the numbness is from the surgery. He is not paralyzed, but has had to learn to walk and balance and is still in physical therapy. His surgeon and rehab doctors have all indicated he should see some improvement, but no one can really say if or when the numbness will subside...and that nerve repair (if it occurs) takes a long time. General recovery timeframe is 3-6 months. At least for my husband, keeping his mood up has been a challenge as of late. From someone not in his shoes, considering the risk and complexity of his surgery, he is doing remarkably well. I hope your surgery went well and wish you all the best in your recovery. My heart goes out to you - none of this is easy!