I put off back surgery for years cause I didn't want to go though that....I was on pain meds though cause the pain was unbearable....finally my pain doc said there was nothing else they could do and referred me to a third surgeon. I liked him immediately and agreed to the back fusion and it was life altering. I had had two other surgeons say surgery was the answer previously. He relieved the pressure on my spinal nerve and I'm not in constant pain any more. Maybe what you need is to find the right surgeon? I just trusted the thrird one so much more, the other two were fine people but there was something special about the thrird one.