How to strengthen shoulders after neck surgery?

[sigley0527]

On May 14, 2010 I had cervical spinal fusion surgery on C5&C6. I completely ruptured the disc a few months before in a car accident, and my spinal cord was pinched. Surgery was the only option. I'm 3 months out, and I been approved to start a workout routine again. I lost A LOT of weight before and after my surgery. The day of my surgery I was 145lbs, but I am back up to 170 again. I'm currently in the gym 3 days a week doing light full-body workouts. My surgeon said not to be scared to lift weights, and it's good for me to strengthen up the muscles in my upper body to support my neck. He said whatever weight I can lift 12-15 reps is a good weight. (I can NOT do any Overhead excercises).
I really like the full body workout. It exhausts me and i feel heavily worked after only 30 to 45 minutes, thats all i need. I need some advise on really strengthening up my shoulders and traps WITHOUT performing any overhead excersices, such as pull ups or military press. I have been doing only lateral raises, thats all i can think of. Its important that I get these shoulders a lot stronger to mantain the health of my neck, but not being able to overhead really limits me.

Thanks!

[vashth3stampede]

For shoulders - lateral db raises, reverse db flys.

Traps will also help support the neck, seated incline shrugs should be quite easy on the back if standing shrugs are a problem.