Hello Mary,

Certainly agree that you should get a second opinion on surgery. However, stenosis surgery has improved dramatically so it is common not to have a fusion with it. I had a 5 hour stenosis surgery on my lower back fixing stenosis in both the facet joints and my central spine and the recovery was really easy and it made it so I could walk again. Additionally, 4 fiends have had both cervical and lower back stenosis surgeries which worked great, removed the pain and all four were back to work in two weeks. I put off back surgery for decades, but no longer fear some back surgeries. Be sure that your surgeon only does back surgeries and is up on the latest techniques.

That being said, as far as your concern about where your neuropathy is going to go and how it will affect you, I have a couple comments. First, keep working on finding a cause because if you get a diagnosis you will know the likely course. However, if you are like me and have idiopathic neuropathy so the cause is currently unknown, then you need to pursue symptom relief. This can be a range of medications, IVIG is the only one that can actually reverse symptoms. Nerve stimulators and pain med pumps can come in if it is really bad. Second, the time you are worrying is kind of wasted worry. The neuropathy will progress as it will and you have a lot of adaptation and coping mechanisms. When the neuropathic pain first move to my hands, face and head (It had slowly progressed in my feet and legs for years before this happened) I said that I would kill myself if this is permanent. The fact is they are both much worse but through meditation and mindfulness, I have come to peace with it which I find to be a much more productive way to deal with the unknown progression. There are many apps out there (Headspace and calm) and CDs (Full Catastrophe Living, John Kabat-Zinn, Tich Nat Hahn, Pema Chodren and many others). Meditation really helps more than most medications.

Mark

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