re: L5-S1 herniated disk

You are headed for a fusion. You sort of have the classic diagnostic criteria for that -- radiating symptoms into the hip and leg, identifiable lesion impinging on nerve roots.

A fusion is nothing to be scared of if you are otherwise healthy. They rip all that bad shite out of there, fuse the vertebrae and you end up with a solid, stable spine.

Hell, my 75 year old mother had a 3-level fusion last year and it literally changed her life for the better.