We'll I met with Dr. Murphy today.  He talked about the fusion surgery of L5-S1 and what was involved with the surgery.  He said the surgery should take 4 to 6 hours and I would be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days.  The recovery period is 6 to 12 months and the first 8 to 12 weeks are the most important.

The surgery would be removing the disc between L5-S1, taking the right wing off of the L5 vertebra, inserting two screws into S1 and into L5 then inserting a bone graft and the bone chips from the wing so that the L5, bone graft and pieces and S1 grow together over time.

He wants me to have another MRI on my lumbar spine to review if anything else has changed and if they can see why the sciatica pain in my right leg is getting worse.

I'm going to try to get an appointment with a surgeon at New England Baptists Hospital.

He said there is a possibility that in 10 to 15 years I would need surgery to fuse L4 & L5 together.

He does not do artificial disc replacements so I'm going to try to get a surgeon that does artificial disc replacement surgery and fusion and see what he thinks would be the best option.