sallyb: Where are the herniations and what do you mean, "the cord is compromised". That's a pretty strong statement. AND, you have spondylolisthesis, which compromises the cord by stretching it.

To you I'll say what I said to Silverlady: Have you had flexion and extension films--xrays where you bend? They are important in determining how much slippage there is. I believe anything more than 3 mm compromises the cord.

Do you have spinal stenosis?

Do the levels of the herniations fit the pain distribution? Do you have any bowel/bladder problems? When you walk, do you find your legs get harder and harder to move? (Not that you tire, but that it begins to feel like you just can't make contact with them to get them to move).

You might want to google "cauda equina syndrome". It's a surgical emergency, and with so many things happening, it might be on the list.

Silverlady: I just now read that they twisted you when they took the xray. But they didn't bend you?

A sloppy reading of an mri doesn't mean the mri was blurry and can't be read well by someone concerned. So I don't think I'd leave them at home--I'd let Mayos' docs read them.

Were your facet injections done under fluoroscopy, so they really do know that they gott he facets?

Finally, you think you've got enough muscle in spasm to be pressing on nerves and causing the pain? If so, there's massage, as I've said somewhere else on teh board yesterday, afater my good massage experience. And also, that's when people say acupuncture helps. I've been hearing this a lot from patients and the alternative bodywork approach--that acupuncture helps with the muscles that have becoem rocklike. And someone told me that you can tell with one visit whether it's going to help, so you don't have to waste the effort of going for weeks and weeks before concluding it's a failure.

Acupuncture is an often over-looked asset to pain management.

And yeah, I should be asleep, but I'm insomniac tonight. It's 2 am, and I have work tomorrow. It's going to be hard.