Michelle,
Slow down...You have not been to the doctor and you are assuming that he is going to offer surgery. Thoracic surgery is not usually done unless the patient is in some sort of an emergency situation because of the seriousness of surgery for the thoracic spine. You do not say what your pain is other than you hurt all over. I wonder why an MRI of the lumbar or cervical spine was not done first?
I have spinal problems from top to bottom. I have had the cervical spine fused as well as the lumbar spine. My thoracic problems are severe, but no one has suggested thoracic surgery except one surgeon and I decided he was too aggressive in treatment.
You do have a problem that probably needs attended to at T-12, but he does say that he "thinks" it is a "small caudally migrated disc fragment." He said it was suspicious. Was this an open MRI? It is often difficult to get clear pictures of the thoracic spine. My NSS at Hopkins thought the one I had done was exceptionally good, since as he says it is often difficult to get good pictures of the thoracic spine.
T12 is at the bottom of the thoracic spine so if they do have to go in at that level it is not as serious as going in at the middle of the thoracic spine. Everyone has degeneration in the spine. You are young, but others have shown degeneration at this age. My spinal pain began near age 35 and I did not have my first surgery until age 50. I endured a lot of pain over the years in between age 35 and 50. You can try minimally invasive treatments and procedures before attempting surgery. Most surgeons do not operate to relieve pain because the surgeries do not necessarily get rid of pain. They operate to relieve numbness or other problems, but not just for pain.
If you haven't already seen more than one spinal doc, that is mandatory, especially if they offer surgery. I saw about 17 docs before allowing surgery... and most were top docs in their field. I was looking for an ADR, but was not a candidate.
Surgery is needed when a) there is radiological evidence of nerve root or spinal cord compression - AND - b) the distribution of symptoms (radiating pain/numbness/weakness) matches exactly the radiological findings (e.g. C5-6 prolapse on the MRI - thumb numbness/arm pain/biceps weakness)
Many docs describe DDD of the spine as this:
Dr.Kleeman describes it as this:
Disc degeneration is a natural consequence of aging. It is seen radiographically in about one out of five people in their twenties and in 100% of people by their sixties. The symptoms if any are mild and transient. Occasionally the condition becomes more of a disease than a natural process. This is often seen when the discs degenerate prematurely at a time when the patient is still young and active. The discs are subjected to more stress than would be expected in an older and more sedentary individual. The inflammation that is generated in the disc causes mechanical pain that is aggravated by activity and relieved by rest and lying down. As the disease progresses, fissures and cracks within the disc can lead to ruptures or herniations of disc fragments.
There is no present treatment that can reverse the degenerative process. On the other hand the symptoms can be treated with anti-inflammatory medication, a brief period of rest, and progressive activity as the symptoms abate. Once the symptoms have subsided, there is evidence that participation in a regular exercise program may prevent or at least reduce the symptoms of recurrent flare-ups of back pain. Both aerobic and resistive exercises have been shown to be beneficial. Discs derive nutrition through physiologic motion. Exercise enhances spinal nutrition while a sedentary life may lead to accelerated degeneration.
Some good sources to visit for researching and reading are these:
http://www.back.com/faq-ddd.html
http://www.spineuniverse.com/display...rticle242.html