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[Guest guest]

Hi

I can understand that the idea of fusion is a little scary, but I'm

here to tell you, having a herniated disk compressing your spinal cord

is a very serious problem. The damage can be irreversible. Perhaps

you can get a microdiskectomy, but be prepared for the fact that the

part of the disk not removed may ooze out there later, and boom.

You're back in the same place. In fact, I suspect that if your

herniation is bad enough, you may not find a doc willing to anything

*less* than a fusion.

I've had both cervical and lumbar single level disk fusions, and the

cervical fusion was a piece of cake to recover from, compared with the

lumbar. But I would get a neurosurgeon for it, not an orthopedic

surgeon.

Good luck