pain level

My pain has really increased over the last few days. And I am starting to get leg pain. It is mainly aching or burning pain and only occasionally sharp. I feel it in my right butt cheek, my right calf, sometimes my right hamstring, and the bottom of my foot. It is very unpleasant and can disturb my sleep. Last night I woke up three times in the middle of the night and twice I put on some sweats and took a brief walk up and down the street. Not good!

I am leaning towards rolling the dice and having Dr. Nelson do a 2-level fusion.

I am reading some studies about disc replacement, and thus far I must say they are in agreement with Abitbol's assessment that ADR is not necessarily better than fusion. ADR seems to be better in the short term (< 6 months), but then they are about the same in patient satisfaction it seems. The studies imply that ADR will be better long-term in that they will prevent adjoining disc degeneration, but of course no one really knows if that is true.

Such a difficult decision! And it's not easy to think about options and to follow up with various doctors and the damn insurance when I'm drugged all the time. I've had to take vicodin regularly of late, and I hate the thought of getting hooked on the stuff. What choice do I have? I need to sleep, etc.