It's hard to find a good description of the surgeries, so all I can do is explain my current understanding.
The revision will be any minor adjustments to the first surgery. Plus, they will do a duraplasty. That is where they open up the dura, which is the lining of the spinal cord. They will then put a patch in to allow for even more extra space.
Then the fusion will consist of screws being placed into the top 2 vertebrae. They will be connected to rods that will line the base of the skull. This will allow my skull to sit higher on my spine, taking pressure off of my poor bent brainstem, and the odontoid that's in the way. Then, they will put a mesh plate in to protect the sensitive area where the skull is missing. Finally, cadaver bone chips will be placed in the posterior fossa region to complete the fusion. The bone chips will fuse with my skull and spine and with the metal rods over the following three months.
It is my understanding that the decompression surgery often makes the skull sink lower into the spine, and it becomes a problem if you have a retroflexed odontoid. This is what caused my problems to return after the first operation.
Dr. B thinks that I will see lots of improvement. So everyone please pray for me, pray for God to help the doctors make me better. And we'll hope for the best...hope that I get my life back.