no pain with foot drop weakness
 

On Feb 17th I ruptured a disc in my back and had significant right leg numbness and right foot weakness, I could not invert my foot or lift my right foot beyond the neutral position. I tried PT and other modalities since then and I have no pain at all. The numbness is primarily isolated in my foot between ankle and big toe. I still cannot invert my foot or lift by big toe. MRI demonstrates an L3/L4 rupture, with disc material impinging on nerve root. As it appears that the right foot weakness has reached its plateau, neurosurgeon recommends microdisectomy. Potential conundrum is that I have no pain at all and do not want to awake after surgery with persistent pain and continued right foot weakness. On the other hand, success of disectomy is high and statists indicate that the sooner the better rate of success.

Any thoughts or observations would be most appreciated.

I would say that if you don't do this, the nerve damage will be permanent. The time limit on permanent nerve damage is 18 months, with some people having it become permanent before that. :confused:

So -- it probably is a good idea. However, you have other things to consider too. I hate to recommend surgery because the levels above/below can fail due to surgery. It's called the "Domino effect." They fail because they have to take on more of the load, due to the surgeon having to take part of the disc out. That makes the L3-4 level unable to "hold up" the vertebra like it's supposed to, so the L2-3 vertebra will "sink" which will cause that disc to bulge/herniate and probably cause further problems, i.e pain & potential surgery. You just can't win. :eek:

If you didn't have significant symptoms, I wouldn't recommend surgery. But since the leg/foot are REALLY involved, you probably don't have much choice.

I think you should get another opinion from another NEUROSURGEON. Take your films and see what another surgeon has to say. You should ALWAYS get at least 3 opinions before undergoing any surgery. Best of luck & God bless. Hugs, Lee :)