I have an herniated extrusion in the exact same location t7-t8 and am experiencing the exact same problems. And no one wants to mess with the thoracic. I have a total of 7 herniated discs along my spine but the problematic ones are in the thoracic, DDD with compression fractures in thoracic. I have 3 horribly painful herniations in the thoracic, with t7-8 being the worst of them all!! I am a personal trainer & aerobic instructor (which the high impact classes seems to be making them worse right now) and I cannot tolerate the intense pain no longer. I'm finally being seen at Vanderbilt at the end of June. Already seen 2 more local to me - one wanted to do surgery the risky way deflating the lung & one didn't seem to think the herniations would get any worse (but they did). Another one didn't want to even see me once they knew the location.

I was wondering, could you tell me more about your symptoms, how long you went before finding a good surgeon, and how you finally found someone willing to help you? And how is your healing process? How are you doing??
Thanks!