I have severe spinal stenosis at my C 4 5

I have been suffering from severe pain for the last three years. I have not yet done any surgery. My L4-5 problem. Will you tell us what is your second problem after the first surgery? How are you feeling after surgery now?

I have been suffering about 5 years or more with neck spasms, stiffness and pain and have multi level disc bulges, cervical lordosis and multi level osteophystes, i see my chiro practor at least once per week and he puts my neck in traction, I can get up to a full day of total pain relief but then it's back but worth every penny, I also believe that my chiro has delayed any surgery so far but Iv also had a lumbar fusion and will do anything to avoid going under the knife again😊

About 15 years ago, I had a double discectomy in my neck (not sure which particular ones were involved).  That surgery was necessitated by my having fallen backwards on our steep driveway during a freezing rain event.  Within hours of having the back of my head strike the pavement, I had numbness down my right arm, concurrent with losing most of my strength in that arm.  Prior to surgery, the Neurosurgeon sent me for X-rays, an MRI, and Physical Therapy.  As he expected, the PT didn't produce any improvement in my symptoms, so I went ahead with the surgery.  Apparently, when I hit my head on the pavement, I jarred loose some arthritis spurs which impinged on the nerve canal in my neck.  I've had dozens of surgeries over the years, and the discectomy was undoubtedly the easiest I've ever had.  They insisted on keeping me overnight, but I could easily have gone home immediately after the surgery.  I chose to use irradiated cadaver bone sections to replace the disks in my neck, rather than having the neurosurgeon harvest bone sections from one of my legs.  I had read that the recovery from the bone harvesting would be more difficult than the neck surgery itself, so I took the easier route.  By radiating the cadaver bone sections, there was no danger of introducing any bacteria into my neck. I think they now use manufactured/artificial bone sections, instead of harvesting from your leg, or using cadaver bones.  The strength in my arm and numbness both went away on the operating table, so that surgery has turned out to be 100% successful.  My advice would be to go ahead with the cervical surgery, if your neurosurgeon is confident in the outcome.  Yes, anytime someone is poking around near the nerve canal, there's a risk, but unless you want to continue suffering as you are, I view surgery as an acceptable risk, maybe because I'm a retired Engineer, and our profession "solves problems", so I'm much more ready to undergo surgery, than my wife, who is the polar opposite, and avoids going to Doctors, unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

?3 years ago, I underwent a laminectomy in L4-L5-S1 region to alleviate simultaneous numbness and peripheral neuropathy in my feet, with the same neurosurgeon.  The numbness disappeared on the operating table, but the peripheral neuropathy (PN) remained, and is getting worse.  2 years ago, the same neurosurgeon inserted a Medtronic spinal cord stimulator to try to relieve the PN.  The signal coming from the SCS was worse than the pain from the PN in my feet, so I discontinued the trial after 2 sleepless nights.  The nurse in the neurosurgeon's office removed the device from my spine in about 5 minutes, with no discomfort at all.  A few months ago, the same neurosurgeon recommended that I try a newer SCS (by Nevro or St Jude?) that operates at a higher frequency than the Medtronic version.  However, he was very careful not to over-promise the end result.  Thanks to the open exchange of patient  experiences on this website, I have nixed going ahead with the newer SCS.  Among other factors influencing my decision is the number of times I read that the trial SCS results were not duplicated when the permanent SCS was installed.  Those poor folks have to undergo much more serious surgery to remove the permanent SCS device and battery.  I had also read many instances where the signals coming from the permanent SCS suggested premature failure of the batteries that are part of the permanent installation.

?Fortunately, my PN pains are intermittent, whereas many of the patients on this website are living through Hell with permanent/debilitating back pain, so they don't have the option I have to delay another SCS trial to wait for continued improvements.  I take Gabapentin and Amitriptyline about an hour before bedtime, and those meds seem to enable me to get to sleep most nights within 10 minutes or so.  Occasionally, those meds aren't sufficient to mask the PN pains and I have to take a Tramadol to enable me to get to sleep.  Once asleep, I'm unaware of the PN pains, although my wife tells me that I exhibit very strong restless legs, which have caused me to fall out of bed several times.  Most fortunately, I have absolutely no back pain, which is highly unusual for folks with PN, so I consider myself to be lucky, compared to other folks on this website.

I hope the above experiences give you some food for thought, and perhaps cause you to develop some questions to ask your Doctor.  Because of concerns for professional liability, I doubt that your Doctor will "guarantee" you the outcome you want.  Good luck with your decision on any future surgery or trial SCS.