ankle bone pain from back???

hi - I’ve posted about my spinal stenosis, surgery postponed, need to strengthen my bones. A reprieve, kind of.

The main pain I have, like an 8 out or 10, is around my outside ankle bone, which when really hurts shoots up my leg, and tenderness down the foot starting mid ankle bone. That is what limits my walking/running

I plan to go to the surgeon’s PA, and ask him is this really is from the L5-S1. Are there nerve tests that can be done to show this is what the pain is from. When I have mentioned it, the answer is yeah, that area can hurt from the nerves. Somehow that is not enough of an answer for me

The last back epidural took the pain away but only for a few weeks, which makes me wonder if it’s not from the compressed nerve

I’ve been injected, thrown money at it with shockwave therapy, done endless ankle and foot exercises. Had MRI, xrays. This has gone on for at least two or three years, sometimes better, sometimes not.

I’m seeing my podiatrist for something else on Thursday and will talk to her. Once she did tell me to wear a boot for a month, and I didn’t. Stupid, but I didn’t know what boot to get so didn’t do it. The only thing I haven’t tried is complete immobilization.

Concerns, getting back surgery and finding out this pain isn’t part of the leg pain at all. Or doing complete immobilization of the ankle for a month and losing some strength in that leg and the funkiness of walking in a boot will get other parts of my body out of whack.

Is there another type of doctor I should see? Are there tests I should be asking for. I am going to try some mindful meditation for chronic pain - but my thought/question is, is it chronic or something that can be fixed that isn’t L5-S1 fusion. Anyone relate?