That sounds awful. I also realize for some it may be necessary.

I had a ruptured disc at L5/S1 - this was over 10 years ago and I was 58 y/o. I had a hard time standing former than a minute. There was also stenosis from arthritis, narrowing the spinal canal and putting pressure on the nerves. The first doc I saw would only do fusion. I got a second opinion and that Dr did laminotomies at L4, L5, S1 to remove the ruptured disc and remove the arthritic spurs inside my spinal canal. It worked, no fusion and I've been fine.

Now I'm 69 and in the gym everyday. I do a lot of core exercises and that is holding my lumbar spine together. I've been told that any more surgery on my lower back will require fusing some vertebra. I'll take the gym instead.