Hi Hope,

I had the same type of condition - spinal stenosis at L4, L5, and S1 - add to that a ruptured ( not herniated) disc at L5/S1 and scoliosis for good measure. I was a little older when this happened, 58. I couldn't stand for more than a minute due to pinched sciatic nerves. It was awful.

The first surgeon I saw would only do fusion, and I wanted to avoid that. A second surgeon said fusion was recommended, but he did laminotomies at L4, L5, and S1, removed the ruptured disc from the spinal canal, used the holes he drilled into the vertebra to clean up arthritis spurs and didn't do any fusion. I recovered very quickly and everything has been fine since - I'm 69 y/o now so it's been 11 years.

The second surgeon reasoned that my back was so bad, it was worth trying the non-fusion laminotomies to see if that worked. If not, he said he would do a fusion of S1-L5 and probably L4 as well. Never happened. (Laminotomy does not remove as much bone as a laminectomy, and leaves some spinal support structures in place.)

So check around. I don't think you're too young to have these issues. I'd be surprised if you didn't also have scoliosis to some degree.

All the best to you, and please keep us updated! Joe

I was your age, and with similar problems, when I had my first spine surgery after PT and more. It was successful and lasted until this past year, ‘23. I did a lot of careful living I’d never have enjoyed without it. At 76, I’m a bit slower but I can function

I had it done at 46 yrs old. L3,4,5 laminectomy then titanium cages 2 separate surgeries. Then at 50 I had my neck fused with more cages C2,3,4. I have recovered great and have full range of motion still some pain but manageable with exercise and medication. Best of luck to you. I am glad I did mine young to make recovery easier. It was not an easy surgery to recover from.