I agree with Linda481. Stay away from fusions unless it's the only option available and absolutely has to be done. God bless & remember to smile often...
Connie

My issues with the pressure on the spinal cord is neurological. I have paralysis, shaking fits and tremors, temperature, memory, and balance problems. As well as eye pain and vision problems. So I believe I need decompression of the spinal cord. I do appreciate you sharing your story with me and for the information on artificial discs.

I blew out L5 completely in 2006. It was considered a medical emergency because it was pressing on the spinal cord where it blew. But the neurosurgeon said if I could stand the pain to not do the surgery and just wait to see if it will shrink back into the disc space after a few weeks and he rescheduled me to come back a couple months later. I had tried to walk some as some websites recommend but that would jus set me back further, So I put myself on bed rest for 3 months and it did shrink back into place. I still had awful sciatica though and if I bent over I would fall over and my husband would pick me up and straighten me and I could walk. I would get in so much pain that if I was shopping and my back gave out I’d just sit in the floor until my husband finished our shopping. People looked at me weird and asked if I was ok and Id tell them I was fine but had a condition and my husband would help me shortly. Anyway, I struggled 3 years getting steroid shots and taking tramadol. Then 3 years later I got rid of sciatica by riding a recumbent tricycle down the road 22 miles a day for 3 months and got ok. Then I just had a mild ache and had to rest a lot after cooking or cleaning etc but pain not too bad. If you can live without surgery, don’t. Not with laminectomy or fusion anyway. Because that almost guarantees spinal failure at adjoining discs and becomes a domino affect. When the spine loses flexibility from surgery it damages the other discs next to it. It is a long road to recovery but it buys you time from much worse severe pain later on. If you have to work full time and don’t have a choice see about artificial disc options. Because a fusion can not be replaced with an artificial disc. Once a fusion is done there isn’t another option. With an artificial disc if something goes wrong with it they could probably do a bone graft. But I’d ask the surgeon about all that. There are new artificial discs waiting for FDA approval but the link I gave you seems to be approved already and has been used in Europe quite a few years. I think at least 7 years. Read this too. I might go see this place with my L3 stenosis. They have a new technique that is not traditional surgery. Hope it is for real and not quack https://cantorspinecenter.com/our-approach/ I’m gonna check into it though. Traditional surgery is barbaric, Traditional helps temporarily but ruins people later.

No, I don’t know what that is, I will look into it. Thank you

Have you looked into motion sparing artificial discs? It is worth going out of state if need to avoid fusions especially if lower spine area. https://www.adrspine.com/artificial-disc-replac...