@lsittll I was trying Cymbalta several years ago, but stopped taking it because it didn't seem to be helping. My neurologist thought it was worth a second try. I'm not going to make any medication changes until I've recovered from surgery next month. I've learned over the past 15 years that I have to do one thing at a time, working with medications. I don't start a new medication if I'm in the process of trying another one because the results get confused. That's what happened with Cymbalta.

@lilypaws My surgery will be in the surgery center at the clinic the neurosurgeon works with. I live in central Oregon, and we knew that there were excellent doctors there when we decided where we wanted to live after retiring. The nearest teaching hospital is in Portland, 150 miles from here. Oregon Health Sciences University is on the level of Mayo, but the medical community here is so good that I've only gone to OHSU twice, for tests that the local doctors couldn't do.

Unless I have issues with pain after surgery, it's supposed to be an outpatient procedure, a much smaller surgery from yours. Interesting that my stenosis is in the same place as yours. I think that after surgery I might stand straighter, and I'll regain the inch I've lost. I'm sorry that you've had such a difficult time after your procedures. I hope you're beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Jim