First off let me say thank you to Linda for posting that image... I still really want that DL ;-) I would love to reply individually to each of you but as I can only sit for short periods right now due to the pain... plus the meds the doc has me on don't help my brain to function properly LOL... so I am just going to post a single reply.. even though so many of you were sooooooo kind to offer advice from your experiences, advice which I'm going to heed BTW.. I am calling up a specialist tomorrow as the doc that saw me was just an ER doc.. not a specialist and even he suggested that I go to a spine doc to get a more thorough review of my case but he told me that I better schedule the surgery now or I'd be waiting for at least a month or so from the date I schedule to get it done... so I did. From what I read out of the paper the doc gave me the surgery is supposed to fuse my spine over the herniated discs... supposedly this will relieve the pain.. but what I was told 15 years ago when they wanted to do this was that it would reduce my range of movement and that is something I absolutely DO NOT WANT! That is the main reason I don't want surgery... I've done a lot of research in the two years following my initial injury back then and did some more tonight but I will wait until I get a copy of my records from the hospital to do more research as it should have the diagnosis written on them... somewhere. The ER doc also suggested that I will have to get an MRI as the X-ray can't show tissue damage just bone... DUH!! Like I didn't know that already *sarcasm here* I used to work in a vet clinic so I have actually seen a surgery done on a dog with a herniated disc.. and although the dog appeared to be better after he still had lingering problems... they did something called a laminectomy to the dog... something which I have read tonight they can do for me to help but something about the instability of the spine caused by degenerative disc problems... I'm not sure... and I'm not thinking all too clearly as the meds are kicking in.... so I'll let it go for now.. and post more when I'm more conscious. LOL ttfn Mystic.

Bop, I also had spinal stenosis along with the bad discs. Sounds like you have a surgeon you trust, so I would trust his judgement on the epidurals. Keep us updated. Nancy, good luck with your surgery...I had L4, L5, and S1 fused and a laminectomy for the spinal stenosis. I was worried about it also but was so tired of living with the pain. I'm so glad I finally had the surgery. Keep us posted on your progress also.

My 22 year old daughter just had her 2nd spinal fusion on Dec 19. Her first one was when she was 17-- it was l5-s1. This time they removed the old screws and replaced them with larger screws (the original were pediatric screws); they fused up to l3--and added 4 more screws plus the rods. They also put 'cross bars'. She is getting along wonderfully. Her pain level is down to 3 or 4. A lot of that may be because of her age! Also, the surgeon didn't use bone from her hip this time. My daughter says that made a big difference. Because of her previous surgery, she was a candidate for a 'miracle-gro' type of artificial bone that insurance companies don't pay for over 99% of the time. By 3 months out on her first surgery, she was back to practicing varsity basketball. By six months, she was at 0 pain level and playing varsity ball. I am sure this time will be very similar. We have heard all the horror stories about how she will never be pain free. She will have all sorts of limitations, blah, blah, blah by having surgery but it just hasn't been true. The surgery was the best thing we could have done for her. Getting active as soon as you are physically able will help. I think she is walking well over a mile a day already. She walks and then changes to the ice brace to help keep the swelling down. She has a condition called spondylolisthesis, which is the cause of her problems. Good luck!

Patti - My mom, who turned 70 this past February, had major back surgery last October. My mom has had back problems for probably 30 years. During that time, she's worn a tinge unit, had I don't know how many pain shots and a whole host of other pain management treatments. She was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and the doctors told her years ago that the day would come when the pain management would stop working and she'd have to either live on heavy duty pain pills for the rest of her life or have surgery. She went for a pain shot in August 2007 and said she knew when she left the doctor's office that it wasn't working because in every case before, she had instant relief. She ended up having surgery the first part of October. I'm not going to tell you that it was easy for her - it wasn't. Mother is overweight which is a strike against her right there, but I will have to say that she did better than I EVER thought she would. My stepdad is a gem and was right by her side the entire time. She had a brace that she had to wear every single time she got up, even if it was in the middle of the night and she had to go to the bathroom - she had to put it on, and she had to do that until April. She said she has no regrets at all about having it done and her quality of life is so much better. We were at their house a few Saturdays ago for dinner and I saw her bend completely over to pour clean water in her dog's bowl - she didn't even flinch. I honestly think if my mother can do it, almost anyone can. I hope Denny decides to go through with it. Yes, it's hard at first, but once you get through those first few weeks, it gets better. And I will say that I was against mother having the surgery because I'd heard all the horror stories of back surgery from years ago. I have another friend that I use to work with - she's my mother's age, and she had the exact same surgery 2 years ago. She said it was the best thing she's ever done - she had hers done in October and the following April went on an around the world cruise. Good luck with the decision. Please keep us posted.