@adriggs I'm glad you are looking into things with your neurosurgeon. Changes to bladder and bowel function can also be spine related. I did have difficulty emptying my bladder because of cervical cord compression. You might want to ask your spine specialist about it. I would also recommend several opinions if you are a surgical candidate and there may be different ways to solve the problems depending on which surgeon you see. I've been told lumbar spine surgery is a more difficult recovery than my cervical spine surgery because the body is bearing most of your weight on the lower spine. Twisting and bending would put extra pressure there and the exact placement of screws into bone must be just right or the screws can pull out. Make sure to ask questions about that before any surgery. I learned that by watching online presentations from neurosurgeons.