@ch2025back Hello, and welcome.

Here's something that may help explain your condition as you describe the discs getting very thin. The surgeries you had were cutting off an extruded part of the disc that had squished out. At some point, the disc collapses further by herniating again, and by drying out with aging that also makes it thinner. The drying of the disc also tends to open cracks in the fibrous layer on the outer disk, further aiding weakness and another possible herniation. When discs get thinner, the vertebrae bones get closer together, and that leaves less room for the nerves that exit the spinal cord between them. It is possible to be able to move and put your spine into a bend or twist that could close down on a nerve if that foramen space is smaller, and the foramen could also have bone spur growth in it. That tends to happen from inflammation caused by a herniated disc if it goes into that space. The spine can also start to fuse itself if the vertebrae get close enough to touch, and they kind of remodel with aging that may make that more likely if they are also collapsing.

I know these are tough choices, and surgery takes a lot of effort in recovery.

My spine issue was compression of the spinal cord from the herniated C5/C6 disc with bone spur growth into the central canal. I did not have bone spurs in the foramen, and my disc had collapsed by 50%. Since the neck is so mobile, if I side bent my neck, it could touch the nerves and cause a burning pain. Then when I straightened back up, that pain went away. I had a fusion of C5/C6 done without hardware. I stayed in a neck brace for 3 months until it fused. That was several years ago, and I have been doing well ever since.

Thank you for reply. Hopefully you can feel better soon.
Bless you