I am 55 yrs old and in Dec 2016 had a lumbar interbody fusion to resolve or reduce fairly severe back pain - this involved placing 2/3 screws and cages in between the vertebrae to decompress the area. I am overweight but reasonably fit and the op went well. However, I woke from surgery with excruciating left leg pain - like the worst cramp you could imagine (I'm sure I was shouting for help!) - and was given Morphine. Spent 5 days in hospital with on/off left leg cramping and numbness in left foot. Given Gabapentin in hospital and on discharge - but on review in January it didn't seem that was helping much so the registrar advised weaning off it. Tests showed no nerve damage but some possible 'stretching of the nerve' and the screws and cages were not pressing on any nerves. 6-7 months post op my back pain is on a scale of 0-2 (much improved) but my left foot and lower calf are much the same - a mixture of numbness and tingling, cramping which can be severe, my 2nd and big toe feel like they are inseparable and I have a hammer toe developing which I believe is due to the fact my big toe has little movement. I can walk around OK but if I do too much I feel more pain subsequently. And I don't trust my left leg not to buckle somehow so tend to go slowly up and down stairs. In sum, I seem to have swapped one type of pain for another and the doctors I've seen since the op have said it's an unusual outcome (but not rare) and may or may not resolve by itself. I have googled and found plenty of anecdotal evidence (mostly from the US) that it happens more often than not with various outcomes. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience - in the past or ongoing - and can give me any advice or information. I'm due for review again in December but if the problem hasn't resolved by then I don't know what's next.