Hi Jan
I spent a couple of years doing the circuit having test after test until eventually a mri of the whole spine revealed the a calcified herniated disc at t5/6. By that time I had lost all use of my left leg and had minimal function of my right and a loss of bowel/bladder function.
I too was warned of the risks of surgery and that I was unlikely to regain full use of my limbs etc.
Faced with the prospect of permanent paralysis if I didn't have surgery, the decision was made for me.

The good news is, my recovery has been spectacular, though it took a long time and lots of physiotherapy and exercise, which was very hard at first but worth it in the end. I thought my physiotherapist was such a bully and was being overly picky about using the 'correct' muscles to walk 'correctly'. But as she explained, after a couple of years of declining function, my body had evolved ways of overcoming my weakness, such as limping and exagerated use of the hips to lift my dropped foot.
I would have to build up the withered muscles by forcing them to work rather than letting my body carry on with what it had become used to thereby condemning me to a pemanent limp.
Well the proof of the pudding is, as they say, in the eating and I now walk really well. I abandoned my stick over a year ago now and have not looked back.

By the way, I had a rib removed during the surgery and it was a piece of this that was used to fuse the vertabrae, thus removing the need to have the added discomfort of having bone harvested from elsewhwere. It fused very well and very quickly.

There are a few T spinies in the group and we all seem to have had positive results from surgery, so I hope this will be a comfort to you.
I know the surgery is long and complex, more so in your case because of the multiple herniations involved and you must prepare yourself for the long haul.

If your experience is anything like mine it will have been worth the discomfort and transform your life.

Good luck, Jan,

Mick