I thought all my back problems were from a ruptured disk 12 years ago. At that time I had a hemilaminectomy to clean up the ruptured disk L5/S1.
14 months ago I had a laminectomy of L4/L5 after radioablation and epidural did not relieve the pain. The MRI showed spinal stenosis and fusion of L5/S1. I have also been told I have degenerative disk disease. Is there a name for all this mess? My pain is as bad as ever. Is there other treatments or tests I should be having?
I really am confused, myself, with all the different categories. I do have the same, and I'm not quite sure where I fit in either when reading all the information. I think I'm going to ask my doctor for some clarity on where exactly I fit in. In the mean time, I just say spondyloarthritis. The rheumy did say it is an autoimmune inflammatory arthritis but I still have questions for him. I'd be interested to read other comments on your post.