question: I had a lower back injury in 1997. The pain is so severe & not only in that area, but all over. I had a ruptured disc & I was too overweight to have surg. Over a yr. later, I had a gastric bypass & lost 160 lbs. My left leg became totally numb, back side of lower part was always on fire, couldn t stand sheets touching me. Left foot numb & severe spasms. I was told - I have neuropathy of my foot. I had been told that once they got that piece off of my nerve, I would get my feeling back. I never did, they apologized, but said we waited too long & nerve damage was permanent. I have some bulging discs & ruptured disc, spinal stenosis, arthritis throughout spine & pelvic area, & my bottom hurts really bad too, left leg stays numb anytime I stand or walk. It has for about a yr. now become like concrete. Burning, tingling also. I was told I have muscle spasticity? I can t bear to get out of bed, I force myself. At night, my leg & toes twist, all different directions & behind my left knee. (My knee pain has been very painful since I had 2 surg. The 2nd one I had a total knee replacement. A ligament? sticks out real far behind my left knee & I can t straighten my leg or bend it when I m in bed. I can t turn over or get up. It feels like it s breaking, ever since knee surg. I scream out & fight tears. Makes me out of breath, pain so bad. The surgeon told me there was nothing wrong with my knee. x-rays didn t show anything. The other surg. told me the same thing. But, the Dr. that sent me to this surgeon showed x-rays that showed bone on bone. He couldn t believe first surg. said everything was fine. Now after 2nd surg. it s still severe & it constantly pops. I had 2 surg on right knee in 2005 & 2006. I didn t even have therapy - I did the exercises on my own. I don t have pain in that knee. I never had the problems I m having now. The Dr. said it s because I m older now. (58) when I had surg. last in May. One pain management Dr.( had many injections, tens unit, meds, PT, Pain Patches) nothing works. He wanted to put a stimulator in my spine & all the way up to cervical area. (lower back L5-S1) is all that workers comp would cover. But, they refused & Dr. said he couldn t do anything more. My upper spine would have to be covered by Medicare. I have severe head aches, can t turn my head & bone spurs on cervical spine. I am on perm. disability. I went to another Dr. (Orthopedic surgeon) & he had injection put into L5 nerve. If it helped me, he would know where to do surgery. I never felt pain as bad as this. I was trying to jump off the table. I screamed numb me. He said I did. He had to take a couple of breaks. He said he couldn t even get all the meds in there, that it was so jammed up, he had to move needle around to get in. The other Dr. said he went directly into the nerve for it to hurt like that. I was still in pain, so only 1 wk. later, another injection & it didn t hurt. The nurse that called to ck. on me, was upset & said I wasn t fully numbed. This Dr. wanted me to have major back surg. It did feel better after 2nd inject. Now, I don t know which way to go. If I have surg. I want to small incisions. I hear good & bad about the stimulator & having surgery. It s tough when I have so much pain & now lately, my fingers are getting twisted & real stiff, & once in a while, looks like a lump.