No Offense But...Second Opinion Please?

My first MRI was on a day when I was feeling pretty good.  I was happy to hear they had a seated one so I didn't have to lie in the coffin tube.  That lasted until it actually started and I got a nice increase in symptoms that lasted during the clicking.  I know, I know, hysterical reaction.  If someone else had told me that happened, I would have made soothing noises, maybe even a shoulder pat while thinking, "loony!"

So...I met with the doctor for the second time to review the results.  He did a great job of showing me the films so I could see what was going on.  Again, I'm not physician but I could see right away I was hosed.  That wicked-looking forward kink in my neck?  Probably not a good sign.  So on we go to surgical options.  Being the good researcher that I am, I have my head filled with all sorts of hopeful, minimally-invasive notions.  Not so. 

However, we do have options apparently.  While there is clearly a herniated disc at C5-6 which was indenting the spinal cord, it is less clear at the level above.  So he tells me that it is "up to me" whether to have a 1 or 2-level fusion.  Umm, what?  Yes, based on the hundreds of these that I have performed, I would definitely have an opinion on which way to go.  After getting passed off to the nurse for scheduling, I pretend I'm going to go through with this immediately and pick a date for about 5 weeks out.  Meanwhile, off to the social media to beg former classmate doctors for a neurosurgical recommendation.