@anoyymous123 I do agree, and I wouldn't trust that surgeon either. I wanted you to know that surgeons are not all the same. Some are excellent and gifted, and I had one of those. I spent 2 years trying to get help for my stenosis and 5 surgeons missed the correct diagnosis because my symptoms were unusual, so none would help me. There was only one out of those 5 that I would have trusted, but he thought surgery would make me worse because he thought my pain symptoms was an inflammatory problem like MS. He is a top surgeon and department head at a major medical center, and he still missed it. I actually found a case like mine in medical literature, and with that in hand, I contacted a surgeon at Mayo. I think the difficulty of being dismissed so many times helped me get into Mayo Clinic to the best of the best places for spine surgery. I think my surgeon at Mayo would help your wife if you have the ability to travel for care and if your insurance is in network for Mayo. I tried to stay local, and was turned away 5 times, so I got progressively worse. The CEO of Mayo at the time responded to my complimentary letter saying that my spine neurosurgeon was one of Mayo's top surgeons and that was pretty exciting for me to get his personal letter.

May I ask a favor? Would you have your wife read the exchanges we have had here on Connect? She is welcome to join Connect. I learned so much about spine surgery in those 2 years I was searching, and reading medical literature and watching online recordings from spine surgery conferences. I am here to help any way that I can, so please ask questions.

Well, who is this gifted surgeon? The answer is in this post in the "Spine Operation" discussion that you started.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/954224/

Please share your thoughts.

Jennifer