If it ain't broke.....
I have to agree with Adrienne. My wife was originally diagnosed with 3 bad discs and told she needed fusion right away by a couple of doctors. They made it sound like her head would just fall off is she didn't.
Yesterday she got concurring diagnosis from 2 ortho/ professors that she only had ONE bad disc and whenever the pain got too bad she could call and set up surgery. No big rush.
I noticed they want to fuse on the basis of 1 MRI. If it were me, I'd want additional testing done and maybe get an opinion from another orthopaedic surgeon. You might want to get your MRI films and Radiologist report (they are yours) to do some research on your own. The best source of info I've come across is this support forum. It's a great "best practices" sounding board also. Most of all, don't let anyone rush you into a life altering decision until you're comfortable with your path.
Good luck,
Bob
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04/06 L5/S1 Rupture
05/06 MRI shows DDD @ L2-S1
06/06 Diskectomy/ Laminotomy L5/S1
04/07 Recurrent Disc L5/S1
4 Ortho and 1 Neuro Surgeon, 5 MRIs, 1 EGM, 1 Myleogram & 11 EDIs later:
03/27/09 L4/5 & L5/S1 Maverick disc at Stenum
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