When any doctor says he can "fix" you, that scares me. That's a pretty arrogant thing to say. My surgeon said that too, and I'm now disabled due to his 2 open surgeries he did on me.

I WISH you would get at LEAST 2 different opinions from other Neurosurgeons before scheduling the surgery. NEVER schedule surgery before getting more opinions!!! I'll be honest with you and say that I would think that therapy would help you much better than fusion, but I have not see your MRI report either.

There are some things you may not know about surgery. First, surgery is NOT for pain. Surgery is ONLY for mechanical problems. Surgery does NOT fix pain. Usually after surgery, you are left with the same pain or worse. Also, after surgery, the levels above and below will fail. It's called the "Domino Effect." These levels fail because they've had to take on more of the load. Your doctor most likely will NOT tell you about this. And latest studies have shown that people who have had spinal fusions/surgeries have had the SAME results as people who have opted for physical therapy! So that's why I say that therapy just MIGHT solve your problem!

For one thing, your surgeon cannot fix the DDD. That is just a degenerative thing that's going to continue. We all have it -- everyone walking on the face of the earth has it to a certain degree -- it's just that some of us have pain with it, and some of us herniate discs to the point that it causes lots of pain and nerve problems.

I hope and pray that you will get other opinions before you undergo ANY surgery. You need to be sure this is what is needed. If you can avoid more surgery, PLEASE do it, as surgery just begets more surgery. I wish you the very best. God bless and please take care. Hugs, Lee