@cwloeffler I think you understand how hard it is to advocate for yourself when they won't listen. I knew that my ankle pain was related to my cervical spine because I could turn it on and off by turning my head and it was reproducible. Surgeons would not listen to that until I got to Mayo. They were familiar with the condition there. You have to consider that when you change body position or lay down, etc., your spine changes position and the spinal cord has to shift inside the spinal canal. If you have issues caused by compression of the spinal cord, that may affect if when the spinal cord moves against some structural issue. If you bring up a question like this as to what happens as your spinal cord moves, they have to think about it.

Here is medical literature that describes funicular pain which is what I had. If you have stenosis at nerve roots, that is predictable because it is a specific nerve affected. If compression is acting on the spinal cord, it's potluck which conduit of nerve cells will get compromised, and because it moves, it isn't always the same pattern or specifically the same place you feel some pain.

Eur Spine J. 2010 Oct 13;20(Suppl 2):217–221. doi: 10.1007/s00586-010-1585-5
"Cervical cord compression presenting with sciatica-like leg pain"
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3111492/
This describes funicular pain originating from the neck. It may happen at other areas of the spine. I don't know the answer, but that is a question to ask. I sent this medical paper when I applied for an appointment at Mayo and I asked if my case is like this one. I also found this because of looking up the term "funicular pain" that I found in a paper from a Mayo surgeon.