Hi!
I've been a long-time lurker of these boards, I feel it's now time to introduce myself.

My name is Jon, I'm 65 & I hail from Upstate NY, near the Canadian border. I'll start my intro with a laundry list of past (relevant) surgeries:
8/06 - C6-T1 fusion
10/09 - L3-L4 Lam.
12/6 -L4-L5 Lam.
5/18 - L2-S1 fusion
9/22 - C4-C6 fusion
1/23 - Left shoulder RTSR
10/23-Rt. shoulder RSTR
2/24 - L1-2 PLIF
3/24 - Right leg perineal nerve untrap
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So I'm fused top & bottom (C4-T1 & L1-S1), & have been in fairly constant pain since "the big fusion" in 2018. "Severe Central & Foraminal Stenosis" has been mentioned in my most recent neurosurgeons diagnosis.

I've had numerous steroid injections up-&-down my lumbar/SI joints, with limited success. I take Diclofenac 50mg-2x/day, methocarbomal for breakthrough pain, & have been trying to self-medicate with CBD/THC for a while now, also with rather limited success. I've even tried kratom, which really helps but makes me feel wonky, & is unregulated, which makes that option scary.

I really, really don't want to go down the opioid rabbit hole, & after 4 low spine surgical procedures, I'm not sure that we'll be able to cut our way out of my pain.

My recliner is my 2nd. best friend (FYI: my wife is the winner! 😊)

I'm fairly comfortable reclining, but now have very weak legs & radiating pain, I believe coming from SI joints, along with pain & "pressure" @ what I believe to be just above L1 fusion.

Additionally, since an unfortunate stair incident 2-mo. Post right RSTR, my right shoulder is compromised (prone to subluxation, & tingling ranging from my neck, down my scapula, which got cracked during my fall) - this was bad luck, I'm wondering if I farther compromised my C-spine.

So both arms are weak, & it's painful to lift anything but the lightest loads.

In short... Weak & painful arms & legs & low back, along with the accompanying legs neuropathy... but besides that, I'm great! 😁

Seriously, I'm at my wits-end here, trying to figure-out my next move: my thoughts are to try to score a comprehensive spine study (past studies focused EITHER on lumbar OR cervical spine) at one of the major spine hospitals (HHS/NYU-Langone... or of course Mayo, but that's a LONG trip for me). My last surgeon (who describes my spine as "complex"), has graciously offered to assemble a package to present to wherever I choose/whomever accepts my insurance.

My pain mgmt. Doctor seem reluctant to move forward with implanting SCS or intrathecal pump, he calls them "hail Mary procedures", for when everything else non-surgical fails.

I believe myself to be at this point, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger on either, without a full spine study, which I'm willing to travel to wherever, to have performed.

Chronic pain... it certainly is character-building, I feel I'm now reduced to thinking-about only chronic pain - it sucks!