Really sorry to hear that man.
No offense, but if those are the only options provided by your surgeon, you should seek additional counsel. He sounds like a ‘shoot first ask questions later’ kind of a guy, or else he’s allowed his certification and subscriptions to association journals expire.
Maybe I can shed some light on your situation. Firstly, surgery is not required, many people with this condition (and this is very important “who are getting progressively better with time”) never require surgery:
http://www.healthwise.org/kbase/topi...16/surgtrt.htm
Secondly, there are FDA approved non-surgical approaches generally called “Spinal Decompression Treatment” available:
http://www.americanspinal.com/
Thirdly, Sports Medicine centers use scoping as a viable alternative. Arthroscopy is a minimally-invasive surgery and can avoid dissection of the muscle and removal of the bone permitting patients to return to work or resume normal daily activities much sooner than patients who have had "open" back surgery.
http://www.bonati.com/
OPEN BACK SURGERY IS THE LAST AND FINAL OPTION!
M.