Hi,
I am soooooo very sorry for what you and your wife are facing. It all sounds so similar to what we had to face. If you are anywhere near Savannah, GA (part of SC touches the area for those who are not familiar), then I can recommend a very good neurosurgeon (and I would also trust the others in his practice too). He's not an alarmist, however, my back was so bad that they could not do the "simple" emergency surgery originally planned after his "then" assistant looked at the MRI. The NS looks at everything himself and, in my case, came back in and told me 15 min after hubby went home to get me clothes and arrange care for our daughter (that's how much of an emergency it was...I didn't even have clothes with me for the hospital stay) that he had to do a much more intricate and severe surgery that would be very difficult, but was absolutely essential to my functioning properly again.
Ok, so things did not work out as well as I had hoped, however, I DO believe this DR is the BEST there is around here and I WILL be letting him do my stim trial and implant (and I won't be letting anybody else do it at all). He is an excellent Dr, but he does not sugar anything over. He's kind and sympathetic, but honest and realistic. I believe him to be a nationally acclaimed surgeon as well as an all around good guy. I've also noticed that he keeps very up to date on the lastest improvements in artificial discs or other ways to solve the disc issues. Don't forget, this guy (like other neurosurgeons) is really a brain surgeon as wel as a spinal surgeon. That counts for something in my book.
Ok, I hope I'm not repeating what someone else already said (but I didn't have time to read everything)......the walker is ESSENTIAL and you must consider getting her one that has wheels because she will not be able to pick up the front to slide it. Depending on your finances, you can find these at almost any church thrift store, Goodwill, Salvation Army, other thrift store, or can get the dr to script you one and have insurance pay for it (or at least most of it). If you decide to purchase one, the cheapeast one of quality that I have seen for the ones with the seat (the new style) is from somewhere like Freds. I don't now what you have available where you are. I can honestly say she will need "lifted" commode seat too to help her in the bathroom (if you don't already have something like that). These too might be covered by insurance with a script, but you never know. It's the same with the shower seat too. I do not recommend purchasing them from a medical retail shop because they are so horribly expensive even for self-pay. A local Walmart may carry wha you need at a substantial savings.....or again, you can call around to the local thrift stores/goodwills/salvation army's or whatever you have. They can be sterilized and here cost about 6-10.00 used and hundreds new. That is completely up to you and to your financial situation. Bleach is my friend and I have bleached a many an item from "friends" who no longer needed them. I kept all of mine from surgery "just in case" because things can add up QUICKLY with the out of pocket things you have to purchases.
I honestly pray things will go in her favor and your wife will not need surgery, but please do not postphone something that must be done. In the long run, it is better to get the probem solved immediately.