@pauly61 I had a MicroDiscectomy in March 2001 after suffering for 2 years. As soon as I woke up the leg pain was gone. One month later the pain was back. The disc herniated again and the surgery was repeated in 9/2001. The leg pain lingered for a number of years. Fast forward to 6/2014 and I had to have spinal fusion at L4L5, TLIF. Fast forward to 8/2025 and I’m back in the same boat. New MRI shows total compression of the nerve and since I had 2 surgeries at L5S1 that is now in need of fusion. I saw the surgeon yesterday and he said he needs to extend the fusion which involves removing the upper rod and screws and extending them an additional level. That would be done through the old incision. To repair the L5S1 he would go through my abdomen. He said I could do that another time if I choose. I have another opinion on Monday. I have unrelenting leg pain. I know the longer I wait the worse it will be, I’ve been down this road before. When my friends complain that their back is aching, I tell them I would give anything for just a backache and that I would gladly trade with them. Unless people go through this and I’ve been dealing with this since 1980 they have no idea what pain is. I was 26 years old when I started having problems with my back. Back then they put you in traction in the hospital. I spent 22 days in traction. I’m almost 72 and I’ve been dealing with this too long. And there’s no end in sight because both my thoracic and cervical are no good either. My mom waited too long, which was not her fault and she ended up with permanent nerve damage. I feel for anybody who goes through this because it’s been unrelenting for 45 years for me. I just wanna go out and not have to look to see how many benches are available for me to sit down. On top of dealing with this, I have Sjogren’s disease and I have Grovers disease. None of this is fun, but I deal with it the best I can.