Foraminotomy is done without fusion. It can destabilize the spine after which you may need fusion.
If bone spurs (osteophytes) are the problem those can be removed and might be removed at the same time as a foraminotomy procedure. A lot depends upon what is putting pressure on the nerve.
Radiofrequency of the medial branch nerve would be an option if your primary symptom is pain.

Thanks for the info. I Guess that's why the surgeon said he would have to do fusion if it destabilized me. My main symptom is that my legs twitch pretty badly and it can be painful and keep me awake so I generally don't sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night and sometimes I won't fall asleep till literally 6:00 AM because I think it takes all night for everything to calm down enough. That is after I was walking around all day doing things.

@annie1
your sleeping position must be aggravating the stenosis. Which is interesting, very interesting. You might try sleeping with a small pillow under your knees or between your knees if sleeping on you side. If you sleep supine a larger pillow so you form a figure four might help. It could be that the day time activities aggravate your back so that it swells a bit at night aided by gravity which moves the fluids to the lowest part of the body. Ice packs might help too, but it seems like it must be positional aggravation.
Do you have a buldging disc, or spondylolythesis.
Your symptoms sound more like central canal stenosis.

I have central canal stenosis and spondylolythesis also ! I already sleep with a pillow under my knees or on my side between my knees. The surgeon says the foraminal stenosis is what is causing the twitching and wants to do fusion surgery which I am afraid of due to my osteoporosis.

annie1, Forteo or Tymlos would make surgery safer for you. You may want to avoid surgery anyway.
The spondylolytheses would make the spine less stable after foramenotomy.
There is a non-fusion surgery https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/for-spondylolisthesis-posterior-lumbar-facet-arthroplasty-promises-a-mobility-maintaining-alternative-to-fusion You wouldn't want to consider it without osteomedications, though.
Physical therapy could strengthen muscles and ligaments around the slipping vertebra.

I had a similar situation as Annie back in 1988 and had fusion with laminectomy L5 w/ fusion L4-S1. Mine was done with stainless steel plates and screws which are no longer used. Titanium is a much better choice now used. I have no regrets except I cannot have an MRI.

In 1990 I did not have osteoporosis. My recovery was lengthy and I was on SSD for 4 years before returning to work.

@annie1
have you received second opinions. You might send your MRI to https://www.bonati.com/free-mri-review-help-diagnose-back-pain/ I'm not recommending Bonati, just the free evaluation to understand if you have better options than fusion.

Thanks for this ! I will send it. There is a procedure I have heard about called Discseel that you pay out of pocket for but it seems to work for some people. Have you heard of it ?

I hadn't heard of Discseel. I appreciate the information.
Annulogram seems like an advancement over the older discogram and microdiscectomy.
The older procedure would inject enough die in the center of the disc to create pressure on the disc. They would use floroscopy to see how far the die/disc fluid would flow. It was quite painful as in if you didn't scream it wasn't the disc causing your pain.
An annulogram is said to be painless. But the next part of the discseel procedure also seems preferrable. Instead of using heat (thermomodulation) to seal the disc, discseel uses fibrin.
Microdisectomy removes the extruded portion of the disc with minimally invasive surgery. It is usually covered by insurance.
Discseel is covered by Medicare and may now be covered by your insurance.