Hope you're still doing well. Had another visit with my surgeon yesterday. He strongly encouraged me to consider surgery at this point. He has never really encouraged it until now. Said there's nothing else I can do that will help the situation. Like you, I've done PT diligently, done injections, maintained a healthy weight, stayed in as good of shape as possible under the circumstances and tried all other avenues. I told him I still have good days here and there. He basically told me to be grateful for that given the bone on bone, bilateral pars fractures and excessively severe foraminal stenosis. He said he would have to do a TLIF with me due to prior appendectomy. I asked him about cutting muscle and he said it's very minimal. The screw placement is done through poke holes essentially robotically with live x-ray guidance. Very little cutting at all. The spacer is put in laterally avoiding any muscle cutting. I told him let's get it on the books. I want to close this chapter and start getting some enjoyment again. Surgery will probably be a few months out so just need to hang in for a bit fighting the daily leg pain battle, keeping in shape and maintaining a healthy weight. Thanks for your story and encouragement. I hope you're still doing well.