Neurosurgeon proposing L3 -L5 lumbar fusion 9/25/20 😳😳

Dean601

So since my last post on 8/11/ 2020 my symptoms have gone from about a 3 to 10. I have pins and needles all the time and terrible leg weakness. I also had an appointment with neurosurgeon ( who has a very good reputation and did surgery on my bosses sister, who is also a general surgeon at the same hospital). I was expecting him to say pt and injections so I didn’t even do any research on lumbar fusion , heck up to that point I wasn’t even sure The numbness in my feet and toes was coming from my back,Ortho didn’t seem to think so. I also had nerve conduction study done which was abnormal but couldn’t get an appointment with neuropathy specialist until January 2021, one of the things I noticed on report was Tinsel signal on rt ankle was positive but they could not make a diagnosis of tarsal tunnel syndrome since the tests were so abnormal. Neurosurgeon says nothing would help and my vertebra needed to be stabilized And I just sat there like a deer in the headlights. When I came home I called the neurosurgeons office back and asked if I could have another appointment to speak with him and bring my daughter who is a nurse they said that was not their policy and would have the PA call me back which she did and was pretty helpful. I’m also getting a second Opinion at University of Pennsylvania, on 9/29 so my 9/25 surgery it is going to have to be postponed, I wasn’t mentally prepared anyway. The neurosurgeon was saying that the film was worse than the written report 🤷‍♀️. What scares me is symptoms are getting worse everyday. I now have sciatic pain and the back of my calf’s seem stiff and hard as a rock. I’m going to Look up a few exercises on the Internet maybe for calf sciatic nerve problems I’m really scared, and it seems
like I just keep getting passed from doctor to doctor and have no one as the captain of my ship which seems to be sinking. Also thank you for the two people that responded to my initial post and asking if anyone has any thoughts about all that’s going on Please let me know.