@birdman518 You did type a lot. You don't have to go overboard, I understand what you are dealing with. I do like to respond in a way that also lets others know and understand the issues. In that way, our discussion helps others too. Sorry about your neurologist. Sometimes they have a different opinion anyway from the surgeon, and what counts is the surgeon's opinion.

I can explain a few terms. The foramen are the spaces between the vertebrae when the pair of nerve roots exits the spine one on each side. The facet joints slide when you twist your spine because the discs don't move; they are shock absorbers. There is a ligament up the center back of the spine. You can find that at the base of the skull when you bent your head forward. This ligament can bulge into the spinal canal and press on the spinal cord.

The discs are named for the numbered vertebrae. C4-C5 means the disc between cervical vertebrae C4 and C5. There are 7 cervical vertebrae (neck), 12 thoracic (connected to ribs), and 5 lumbar (low back). C7 is the one that has the spine that sticks out farthest behind between your neck and back (thoracic area).

Your reports states foraminal narrowing around the nerve roots at L3-L4, L4-L5 and C4-C5, severe narrowing of the spinal canal at L3 through L5, and severe cervical stenosis (narrowing) at C4-C5 with spinal cord compression.

CT scans and MRIs show the body in slices and to understand them in 3 dimensions you have to scroll through them and watch how they change and remember what was next to the current sliced view. They take slices like a loaf of sandwich bread head to tail, and a sagital plane that divides the body lengthwise in half, and a front to back slicing. These view let the doctor understand in 3 dimensions. They look at the spacing where discs are, and everything else. This video shows an explanation of a spinal CT scan, but it is meant for medical professionals, but you can see how it looks. The first 2 cervical vertebrae are unique in that C2 has a post that extends up toward the skull, and C1 forms a ring that sits on top of it. If you really want to understand how the spine works, you can boil a chicken or turkey neck that comes as giblets. The meat falls off when it has boiled long enough so you can take it apart. That may be a lot more involved than you want to be, but I find it interesting.

Was this helpful for understanding the spine? I know... it is complicated!

This link also explains:
https://coreem.net/core/the-abcs-of-reading-c-spine-cts/