Thing about it Donuel is the Orthopedic Surgeons don't fix anything pain related after they saw off bones and replace them with aircraft steel .. I know all about it .. from my neck to my ass ... You are doing the right thing. The surgery is the very last resort and once it is done it cannot be taken back .. they never tell you once you have one surgery you will need a second and a third and a forth and so it goes because all the aircraft steel they put in destroys the disks above and below the area they worked on ...

I did the surgeries only after it was ... do the operation or give up the idea of walking .. for that, I am grateful as I spent a few months in a chair and after pushing myself to walk, got my legs back .. so for that, the surgeries were a blessing .. left me in chronic pain but at least I walk (and pretty darn good also) as all of my wilderness treks prove. And everything else works great as it should .. but all the steel is not fun ..

I guess the big thing now is there are people who have the steel break off .. when that happens they usually die before they can get help .. They are pulling the rods out of people now for that reason. I guess some of them were defective. Don't know what kind I have in my back and neck ..