My mother had an emergency operation in 2000 because of spinal stenosis in the lumbar region. As well as being in absolute agony,she was also getting numb toes and other symptoms.If the surgeon hadn't operated within a 2 week window she would have lost the use of everything below the waist. I don't remember her getting any weird symptoms in the upper body. Luckily here operation was a complete success and she recovered fully. I hope this maybe helps...