I broke my lower back in an accident, had 4 screws and 2 rods installed, bone taken from my upper pelvis and used to fuse my sacrum to my pelvis, and a (multiple locale) laminectomy (bone removed from discs to make room for nerves to pass through unimpeded) done. I also have two discs blown out right below my shoulder blades. I have big leaky goomers called "Schmorl's Nodes" in a number of places, and I also have a couple endplate fractures.
My surgery helped a lot. I went from tears to hurts a lot all the time. I didn't have any expectations because I did my reading, furiously studied how backs work, surgical procedures, everything I could possibly learn and more.
All I can suggest is to listen to the docs, do your part and bust your ass to excercise and get the muscular support corrected, and try like hell NOT to ever have surgery.
Once you've crossed that bridge, you never come back.
In my case, the pain is lessened, but there are tons of things I can't do, my range of motion is shot, some days the pain is unbearable, and it's an ever-present problem that needs constant care. I literally live my live around my back, and it sucks.
Once again, it's better than it was, but the way it was, I was ready for a bullet. I insisted on every conservative measure possible for 7 months, and when I finally couldn't take another day, I was taken to surgery a couple of days after I agreed. They'd have taken me immediately, but I had to go through all the surgical preliminaries.
I wish I could pray you well, and I'll do my best, but you really have to work your ass off to try to avoid surgery. It hurts like hell every minute of every day and there's not enough drugs to kill the pain. You may be one of the lucky ones who can avoid surgery. If you can, you've done yourself a great justice, I promise.
