Thank you for your response. The sciatic nerve is being compressed which is resulting in intermittent severe leg pain. Last week, the only way he was able to get from the living room to the bathroom was to use the wall to support himself. I have a cousin who is a neurologist in Florida. I just emailed him and he asked us to have the radiologist email him my son's MRI. My cousin said that if the herniation is large enough and the root is being compressed then surgery is indicated. I am happy that my cousin who has no ulterior motive but my son's best interest will give us his opinion. We are not necessarily looking at fusion but possibly removing only the herniated part of the disc. Apparently three epidurals spaced three weeks apart is the accepted protocol. This second epidural has not even offered the pain relief of the first one which is why I question the wisdom on continuing with the epidurals.

I completely understand the problems with the domino effect. I have severe degenerative disc disease, especially in the cervical area. Eight years ago, I was starting to loose some funcion in my hand due to compression. I went to Pittsburg to have a two level foraminectomy WITHOUT fusion. The neurosurgeon said that looking at the way the nerve was being compressed, I would have had permanent loss of function of my hand if the surgery had not been done. He also was adament that if I ever had a fusion, I would end up being permanently disabled due to the domino effect as the areas above and below are not wonderful. The hand symptoms resolved.