Inoperable spinal stenosis in L4, L5.

dalton7 (@dalton7)
I am sorry that I missed your orininal post, but I have been in the same boat. Two years ago I was diagnossed with more than spinal stenosis and went to an orthopedic surgeon then a neurosurgeon. They both said I was inoperable. This was due to mild scoliosis that caused my disc to bulge. I also thought Vertiflex would be a perfect implant for me, but as it turned out the scoliosis was problematic. It took me another year until I found a surgeon who proposed a laminectomy with fusion from t10 to s1. That scared me to death so I continued interviewing surgeons who specialize in "spine reconstructive" surgery. If you limit your search to those who specialize in degenerative spine disease and stenosis, you may have better luck. I finally made a decision to go with a neurosurgeon, but he has now put surgery plans on hold for nine months. This is not working out for me and I am not going to wait nine more months while I feel my back getting worse. I am now searching for a new surgeon who will schedule the surgery sooner.
It is a lot to absorb, and while you do your research, one of the surgeons I interviewed looked very closely at my bone health. If you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, you need to thoroughly look at that and talk to an endochrinologist. If you do, they may recommend a medical treatment plan before planning any surgery.
Over all, I have interviewed 5 surgeons over the past two years, I have a appointment with a new one next week. So please take your time and educate yourself as much as you can.

Find a neurosurgeon and get one who does minimally invasive and or ultrasonic surgery for spinal stenosis. If its that bad already it can cause u to not be able to walk at all. Get it fixed dont take no for an answer. Go till u find one who will help you. Check university of minnesota spine surgeons or TC spine in minneapolis mn ir minnesota brain and spine.

Where did you find a group class ? I'm on the E Coast but go to the Bay area sometimes.

Is that the same as TOPS ? Why aren't more surgeons using that vs fusion?

Although minimally invasive and ultrasound sounds good, it is not possible in some cases for example mine. Never tie the neurosurgeon's hands.