Hi Ed, Welcome to NT.

Yours is probably one of the most common questions we get on this forum, yet every case/patient/situation is unique. You didn't mention where you did your reading; as many places as you can find (here and elsewhere) is best. There are a lot of discussion threads on this topic here, and you can also use the search function in the upper righthand corner of the forum page, below the page numbers. I think the more specific you can be with your condition and questions, the better people will be able to address your concerns.

Candidly, I am of the opinion that surgery should only be considered as an absolute last resort, and only after all other treatment options have been tried and have failed.

Regardless, I think we all echo Ger's advice on getting multiple opinions. You didn't mention what kind of surgeon advised the surgery, and opinions can sometimes differ between orthopedic and neuro surgeons (other?), so you may even want multiple opinions from each type of surgeon.

If you do go through with surgery, you of course want the best surgeon you can get - not necessarily the greatest number of procedures, but the best success rate with your exact procedure, and that you're confident and comfortable with the success ratio of that surgeon doing that procedure (chance of improvement vs. remaining the same or coming out worse than if you hadn't had the procedure).

Consideration should (IMO) also be given to the cause/type of your spondylolisthesis:
http://www.medicinenet.com/spondylol...is/article.htm
If it's degenerative in nature, it stands to reason that surgery may be better sooner than later, but if it's not, and/or not likely to deteriorate/worsen very quickly, that may buy you some more time to research, investigate, and consider/try other options/alternatives. Do you think you were adequately informed about other treatment options?

One last bit of input (for now); not to scare - just to inform, as in informed consent:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_back_syndrome

Doc