[annapurna]

One solution is to find yourself a surgeon and solution that you like and believe in. Get yourself set up with the surgeon, see him/her, pursue the testing recommended, basically get everything done except for scheduling the surgery, then wait for a while and watch your progress with another MRI after some wait. If things are going fast, you shouldn't lose too much by waiting a little while and things aren't moving too fast you have time to pursue your life until the need arises for surgery. One thing you should discuss with the eventual surgeon of choice is the effect of two bad disks on a bad skiing/windsurfing fall. You might need to back off the high level pursuits until you confirm that the disks aren't degenerating quickly.