@mylesheath17 Hello Myles, and welcome to Connect. I am a cervical spine surgery patient. You are very young to be going through all of this. A microdiscectomy is removing a portion of a disc by trimming off what has herniated. The herniation tends to reoccur because the wall of the disc is weakened. That can only remove something herniated outward. If the herniation goes into the central spinal canal, there is no way to get to it except by going through the disc and removing it, leaving a space that needs to be filled. When vertebrae are fused, typically, the disc is removed completely. I've never heard of partial removal of a disc and fusing bone. To fuse the bone, something must be inserted into the space like a cage or a bone disc spacer to allow new bone to grow through it and fuse the vertebrae. L5S1 is a difficult location to fuse because of bearing most of the body weight there and a partial fusion there doesn't sound like a good idea to me, but your doctor has to give the official opinion on that. I think your newest opinion is valid in that the disc should have been completely removed. That is always the way surgeons describe this procedure. Do you have imaging and a radiology report that shows the disc was partially removed? It's possible that the level did not fuse at all and has some movement which could cause pain and more problems.

I don't know what is best for you, but there are also artificial discs that will allow some movement in the spine. It's never going to be the same as before surgery or before an injury. Not all surgeons do artificial disc surgeries, and they also have risks just as fusions do. Foreign materials in the body can cause immune responses. Bone can grow around an artificial disc in an attempt to stabilize it. I'm not saying that to worry you, but it does happen to some patients. There are environmental medicine doctors who can treat immune problems from surgical implants. You'll need to do your research to find the best surgeon who takes your insurance. If you are able to come to Mayo, you will find many expert surgeons. I had my surgery at Mayo and was very impressed and I had great results. It is worth traveling to get the best surgeon you can. They are all different and don't all have the same training or skill set. Already, you have a problem to solve that will require a revision which will require a better surgeon. My surgeon was Jeremy Fogelson at the Rochester, MN campus. He is a spinal deformity expert and does both fusion and artificial discs. Artificial discs are not appropriate for every situation, and I was not a good candidate for one and I chose fusion.

Recovery can be a long difficult road and I'm sure you know his already. I hope you find the answer you need to improve the quality of your life. You should get several opinions before choosing a surgeon. You have one chance to get this right.

Jennifer