I broke my back in an accident 14 years ago while I was in my twenties. Two of my vertebrae cracked and the disc collapsed completely.
I experienced severe and chronic pain for many years which doctors did not want to treat surgically due to my age and limited success rate of the operation. No amount of other treatments helped (physio, steroid injections, nerve blocks etc).
I was referred to another orthopaedic surgeon in desperation who strongly advised me to have my spine fused at L5/S1. There was a 50/50 chance I might not be able to walk again, same risk for bladder/bowel problems.
At the time I was in my late twenties and was more than willing to take the risk because I knew I could not live the rest of my life in that amount of pain.
The operation took 4 hours. When I woke up my back pain had gone; it was replaced by post-op pain which was not pleasant but far less painful than my back pain had been.
I was on my feet after 48 hours, discharged from hospital after 5 days and back at work within 6 months. I found the worst bit was having the external staples taken out after 10 days.
I get niggles in damp weather but this is nothing compared to the pain I was in previously. It's certainly an operation that needs careful consideration. I was under no illusion of the risks involved, however I strongly believe the surgery gave me my life back.
PM me if you want details of my surgeon, obviously I think he's amazing.