Suggest Treatment For Severe Spinal Stenosis And Rapid Degeneration Of Body

Question : One a d a half years ago I tried to learn how to play golf. I am a 56 year old woman who has played tennis on my college team (Trinity College in XXXXXXX ,CT). As I had children and played less frequently, my right knee has had a total knee replacement. So you see I want to be very active.

In 1997 I had a cervical fusion from C-5, and C-6. That surgery was done in XXXXXXX by Dr. XXXXXXX Palozza. After 8 months to. Year I felt great! Now in 2014 after hitting that very first golf ball, I've been in terrible pain.
And I've seen local Dr.'s who say they don't know how to help me. The radiologist read my MRI totally wrong! I have visited Dr. Lim in Chapel Hill twice and he feels that he can help me live a better life, but the spinal fluid is very narrow near C-1 through C-3: I've had many cortisone shots. So essentially, C-4 is breaking down with the pressure from above and below. Dr. Lim also figured out that I have no balance, my hands are numb or asleep often, Every test he did, The Babinski, for example, test was positive for what Dr. Lim is worried about for me. I suppose one would call it spinal stenosis and rapid degeneration of my entire body. He does not recommend the surgery he would do on me for a 72 year old, but because I am only 56 he recommends an operation called "Myopathy decompression of the spine and he would fuse the neck from the congenital fusion at C-1 and C-2 and continue down to c-7, without removing the hardware from my previous surgical fusion. I trust Dr. Lim beyond any doubt, he is certainly the most intelligent spinal surgeon I have ever met. I want to do the surgery sooner rather than later because I'm losing strength daily. I am petrified of becoming paralyzed though! But, I am basically paralyzed now because I' m so worried.....it is all I can think about all the time. Our son is a Medical student at UNC, in Chapel Hill, N.C. ~ this is how we got in touch with Dr. Lim.

I would love to get the operation over with and begin recuperation, but there are conflicts in both January and May (our younger son will graduate from Johns XXXXXXX in May. I am very scared and I'd like to know more in depth what Dr. Lim would be doing. Aapparently this is a very long and very complicated surgery. Can you shed any more wisdom with me ~ knowing I must travel to Chapel Hill from St. XXXXXXX FL, and that I'm terribly paralyzed by my knowledge that I certainly could become literally, from the surgery?

No neck movement after this extensive surgery?

What exactly would happen if I did nothing and just stayed on the pain management program of 4 per day?

Main question: what would happen to me if I did nothing ? The Dr. Even said he may not be able to make my neck pain go away.

The Pain Management team have given me XXXXXXX to help with my pain, they started with Vicodin but, it didn't do one thing to help the pain.