My doctors talked about doing a fusion for me. L4 +L5. but I also have degenerative disc disease and was told if I get the surgery, it will just crumble the spine above that spot in the future. I did the cortisone shots, and epidural, and nerve ablation. Nothing seemed to help. Just pain meds for a while.
Glad you made it through, and on the way to recovery! I had L5-S1 done about five years ago. Before the surgery it was bone-on-bone and got to be painful to do much of anything. I haven’t had any problems at all after healing, I don’t even think about it today, and am really glad I did it.
They say that avoiding nicotine will speed the regrowth of bone. Just think of your cellar as improving with age while you heal up!