@dabswquestions2 Hello and welcome to Connect. I found some discussions for you where you may connect with members are talking about spinal stenosis and constipation. After spine surgery, there may also be constipation issues related to anesthesia and pain medicine prescriptions. Compression of the spinal cord may be associated with bowel or bladder dysfunction. I am a cervical spine surgery patient for spinal cord compression and I did have trouble emptying my bladder. It was intermittent for awhile while my physical therapist was working on my neck and realigning it. When muscle spasms shifted my vertebrae, the symptoms re-occurred. Since my surgery, it was all resolved.

Myelopathy and constipation
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myelopathy-and-constipation/
Spine Health - "Lumbar stenosis and bowel issues"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/lumbar-stenosis/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-stenosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20352961

It can. Spinal maps just give you an idea of which vertebra are more likely involved with digestive function
https://www.britannica.com/science/autonomic-nervous-system
The inability to exercise with severe stenosis as well as most of the medications for the pain resulting from stenosis contribute to slowing peristalsis.
Too much calcium and not enough magnesium can also contribute.

@dabswquestions2 - The short response: Maybe.

Consider all the important nerves that can be squeezed by lumbar stenosis - and you can see why doctors struggle to definitively identify every bodily "problem" attributable to the stenosis. My own experiences included many uncomfortable bowel issues.

Have you been officially diagnosed with lumbar stenosis? You describe your stenosis as "severe"...did the doctors describe it that way? Do you have a strategy to address the stenosis - especially if it is of a severe nature?