@peggyn I certainly understand your concern. Nerve compression at the nerve roots and spinal cord compression can cause burning, stabbing or electric shock type pain and muscle atrophy. Surgery at the lumbar area is also a more difficult recovery because that area is bearing your body weight, and any twist or leaning puts pressure when it's trying to heal. You might want to get other opinions. If the leg atrophy is due to nerve compression, decompressing the nerves may help. Depending on how much nerves have been damaged affects the outcome of the recovery. It's possible to rebuild muscle mass if the nerves are not permanently damaged and if this has not been going on for a long time. I am a cervical spine surgery patient, and I had all of these types of pain and muscle atrophy in my arms and shoulders from spinal cord compression. It is almost 3 years since my surgery, and I have regained most of the lost muscle, but not all of it. It may still come back. Time will tell. I did also have leg pain and pain all over my body from cervical cord compression, and that confused a lot of doctors because they expected me only to have arm and neck pain from the injured level. I had some slight instability, and gait abnormalities when the vertebrae had slipped out of alignment. My PT could realign it and I would walk better again until the next spasm. If you have not had imaging of your entire spine, it might be a good idea to see if there are other problems that are being missed. There are also some issues with pelvis alignment and dysfunction that can cause sciatic issues and they are not spine related and you can can that in addition to a spine problem. I've had my pelvis create some of that pain and been able to resolve it with physical therapy. Here is a link on that issue. https://trainingandrehabilitation.com/identify-treat-lumbar-plexus-compression-syndrome-lpcs/

For me, surgery fixed all my pain. I do have a bulging lumbar disc that is asymptomatic at this time. You may also want to ask what your future will be like if you do not have decompression surgery. Would they predict a wheel chair and would you have disabilities that affect your ability to function? I know this is a big decision. Here is a link with a patient story from my neurosurgeon at Mayo about teen swimmer with a lumbar issue. I've included my patient story too. Surgeons can't always promise that surgery will fix pain and they tell you that decompressing the issue will help keep it from getting worse. I knew that all my pain was spine related even though it confused a lot of doctors. I paid attention as my symptoms developed and was even able to change where my pain was just by turning my head and I could reproduce it. The lumbar area doesn't have the mobility for that, but think back about how things started and developed for you. With my bulging lumbar disc, I have been able to rotate my spine and have it reset itself with an audible sound and stop sciatic pain. The stronger I am with my core strength, the less of these problems I will have and riding my horse is great exercise for that just at a walk. My surgeon told me core strength is the best way to support the spine and possibly prevent future surgery. There are therapeutic riding programs that use horses to build strength. I'm not suggesting this for you in your current condition, but wanted you to know in case it would help with rehab down the road.
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2017/07/26/spinal-surgery-saves-teen-swimmers-mobility/
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/