Latest news on Manning not good:

**Connie Jo** · 02-10-2012, 04:02 AM

Peyton Manning's 'arm is a noodle' - Yahoo! Sports

**azchiefsfan** · 02-12-2012, 09:35 AM

They showed the xray on ESPN a couple months back; it might have just been a demonstration xray and not his. Amyway, what they showed was the standard 2 aligning rods and 6 screws. I have 2 discs in my L4-L5 that can attest to the fact that they never heal. They can be replaced or stabilized, but they don't heal. I have been crippled and using a cane since I was 35. So I have 1st hand knowledge. If they didn't replace the discs, then the rods would be inserted to keep the pressure off them or they would collapse again. He is, not just stupid, he is mentally ill to risk a big hit.

**figcrostic** · 02-12-2012, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by azchiefsfan

They showed the xray on ESPN a couple months back; it might have just been a demonstration xray and not his. Amyway, what they showed was the standard 2 aligning rods and 6 screws. I have 2 discs in my L4-L5 that can attest to the fact that they never heal. They can be replaced or stabilized, but they don't heal. I have been crippled and using a cane since I was 35. So I have 1st hand knowledge. If they didn't replace the discs, then the rods would be inserted to keep the pressure off them or they would collapse again. He is, not just stupid, he is mentally ill to risk a big hit.

Completely agree thanks for the insight

**70 chiefsfan70** · 02-12-2012, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by azchiefsfan

They showed the xray on ESPN a couple months back; it might have just been a demonstration xray and not his. Amyway, what they showed was the standard 2 aligning rods and 6 screws. I have 2 discs in my L4-L5 that can attest to the fact that they never heal. They can be replaced or stabilized, but they don't heal. I have been crippled and using a cane since I was 35. So I have 1st hand knowledge. If they didn't replace the discs, then the rods would be inserted to keep the pressure off them or they would collapse again. He is, not just stupid, he is mentally ill to risk a big hit.

I kinda felt the same way.

**okikcfan** · 02-12-2012, 06:13 PM

Tho there is a big difference in the lumbar like yours and the T1 to T6 area of the neck as in Mannings the results could very well be the same. Now I'm not aware of the area in which he has had the surgery but I can tell you the injury itself is not so much the problem. If in fact they installed rods, it should hold up rather well but the odds increase after and neck or back injury to have a domino effect and moving to the next disc and so on. The bad part from what I have heard on Payton's injury is the nerve damage. damage in this area can effect his throwing, his arm strength and his grip on the ball. My advise to Paton is broadcasting the game on Sundays...

**azchiefsfan** · 02-13-2012, 02:55 PM

Charles Barkley was on ESPN this morning. He said he had a similar neck injury and surgery. He said, "Peyton is insane to take another snap in the NFL. The risk of paralysis is too high. I think Payton Manning should retire." The main danger of paralysis is not the discs crushing and the neck breaking. It is in the screws being torn loose and puncturing the spine. This is the main reason I have chosen to live with the pain and disability of my injury. Can you imagine Peyton getting hit by Terrel Suggs at full speed? The risks are so high, I get sick to my stomach thinking of him going out on the field. He is the greatest quarterback of this generation, he has a Super Bowl. He has nothing more to prove. Though I would love to see him work his magic again, it is far too risky for such a great athlete. He needs to hang up his cleats and retire as the great player he is, not be remembered for going out on the field and being crippled for life. Just ask Darryl Stingley if football was worth the price-and he was healthy.

**okikcfan** · 02-13-2012, 07:59 PM

If you have ever seen these screws they are much bigger and longer the one would think. It would take a hell of a blow to rip these screws out but if it did happen, the disc's they are attached to would be completely destroyed. They would have to be replaced with cadaver disc's or titanium replacements and the damage done to the spinal cord, well, it would not be pretty and could result in death if those said screws tore into the spinal cord....

**okikcfan** · 02-13-2012, 08:01 PM

As I said before, it is not the injury itself or the repair that is the problem. It's the damage already done to the nerve's.

**TopekaRoy** · 02-13-2012, 09:10 PM

The injury alone is enough reason for him to retire, even though his doctors say there is no increased risk of injury. (I don't believe them.)

I just don't want to see him go out and play like crap after being such an amazing career. It shouldn't taint his legacy, but he would be remembered as a player who took a ton of money to play when he was past his prime and had every reason to retire.

That's the thing about great NFL football players---The very thing that makes them great, that competitiveness and drive to be the best is the same thing that won't let them walk away from the game when it is time to do so.

The best thing he could do now is move to the broadcasting booth or into coaching. He is a sure-thing first ballot Hall of Famer. He has made boatloads of money and will continue to do so with his endorsements for MasterCard and Sony. He doesn't need to play the game anymore.

Rub some dirt on it!

**jap1** · 02-14-2012, 02:05 AM

A couple things about the surgery. Most likely he had a procedure called ACDF (anterior cervical discectomy and fusion). This is pretty much standard procedure nowadays as it has fewer complications. When they do an anterior approach (going in from the front of the neck) they do not use rods, they usually connect the two vertebrae that are of concern by a flat plate. Rods are only used in the posterior (from the back of the neck) approach because they have to cut through certain parts of the vertebrae that connect to the vertebrae that are above and below.

The screws they use are relatively large and hefty. However,in the anterior approach they will never come near the spinal cord (unless the surgeon is an idiot and uses screws that are over an inch too long). If the hardware were to fail, it would not affect the spinal cord unless the whole vertebrae, including the thickest part of the bone, were to somehow shatter.

People have regularly survive car crashes with no damage related specifically to the surgery they had. The problem comes in the damage that has already been done, which is to the nerves as okikcfan has pointed out. You usually do this kind of surgery because there has been nerve damage. Usually we tell patients that the surgery will likely not get rid of the pain, but will stop the loss of strength/sensation resulting from pinched nerves. Usually we tell patients that they should not expect a significant return of their strength/sensation. The surgery is to stem the tide, not repair the damage. Some patients will regenerate the nerves, but that is a long process.

Nerves usually grow back at a rate of 1mm/day. So it could take significant amount of time for the nerves to reach his triceps from his neck (this is what is reported to be giving him problems).

My source for information is that I am a surgeon, and have done quite a few of these surgeries and taken care of many people before and after surgery.

Here is a link to Wikipedia that explains the Surgery: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just wanted to make sure the right information was out there.