@harvey2007 To answer your question... Yes... absolutely I am glad I had spine surgery. I had spinal cord compression in my neck which was causing me to loose the ability to control my arms. I also had pain all over my body. I had a great recovery and this surgery gave me my life back. I did loose some muscle to atrophy before the surgery, and got some back, but not all that I used to have. I would have done this surgery sooner, but it took 2 years to find a surgeon who would help, so after 5 refusals, I came to Mayo. I didn't realize how inefficient it would be to keep seeing doctors and waiting for everything with testing and appointments, only to be asked to wait for another test then wait for an appointment, and then when they hesitate or back out having to start over again with a new doctor. If I had been able to get help sooner, I would have more shoulder and arm muscle now. I didn't know how hard this could be when surgeons don't understand and can't connect your symptoms to your imaging. At Mayo, I found a great surgeon who understood a case like mine. I had the C5/C6 disc removed and the bone spurs that were compressing my spinal cord, and a fusion with just a bone disc spacer and no hardware. I stayed in a neck brace 3 months until it began to fuse. The only alternate paths could have been a disc replacement, but I was not a good candidate because of a bit of instability with back slipping of C5 over C6. If no surgery were done, my future would have been disability, a wheelchair and likely paralysis. There was only one good choice. Here is my patient story.
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/