Jack, we ALL have stenosis of some sort as we age, the question is degree and symptoms. It is very important to not allow the stenosis to become severe enough to cause cauda equina syndrome, as the nerve damage may not be reversible.

Please go to their websites, or look at my earlier posts on this when I learned I had severe stenosis. If you find you're walking a little hunched forward, if you're having any change in bowel/bladder function; if you are getting cramps in your legs, or finding your legs just getting weaker as you walk longer, these are bad signs. Peripheral neuropathy is also a bad sign.

There are some great websites. Most doctors are trained to notice cauda equina only when it's full-blown and damage is already irreversible.

So, if you've got moderate to severe stenosis, and any cauda equina symptoms, that's an emergency.

Plus, I can tell you the surgery is not actually a big deal. If you have a stable spine and do not need fusion, the recovery is quite rapid. Billye's husband, I believe, had it. And others. Instrumentation surgery with fusion is a hard recovery, but a straight laminectomy is not. I would never ever let myself get nerve damage rather than a laminectomy. That would be a very bad trade-off.

Humor me. Read the websites. Okay?