Hello Bbk,
Welcome to this forum and the great people who post here and try to help others.
Good, you have a month to get some "2nd opinions" before you see your specialist.
Lood for the best neurologist/spinal surgeon that you can find. Talk to those you know and find out which spine doctors they liked the best, and which ones they did not like. Call your local hospitals and ask them which spinal surgeons they would recommend. If you are in or near a city which has a professional sports team, call their office and ask which neurologist/spinal surgeon they use for their players.
Then call the spinal doctor at the top of the list and make an appointment. Oh yes, make sure you take your MRIs and X-rays along to the doctor.
From my expeience and the experience of others, it is a "process" one goes through. You get advice from several doctors. Do some research as you are doing on the internet. Talk with other people.
In any case, the very last option is surgery. Unless your pain is very severe, I'd suggest trying to stay away from, or use as little as you can of pain meds. They become very addictive very quickly, and it is not pleasant going through withdrawal.
After you see the spinal specialists, then make an appointment with a pain managemet doctor. Mine did wonders for me through the use of epidural injections. which contained the corticosterod, Kanalog. It reduced the inflammation and thus reduced the pressure on the nerve.
Do stay in touch and let us know how things go for you.
Take care.
RichT
