Hi Christina,
It is very unusual to herniate discs at such a young age (early teens). Disc degeneration and the process by which it causes back pain in some and not others is still not entirely understood by medical science. Hopefully the early trauma was just some sort of fluke or due to an earlier injury which set the degeneration in process. If it is confined to only the two lower discs that is a good indication that it's isolated so be confident in the rest of your discs.
I still struggle to understand that you were left with a 24mm herniation that was causing severe nerve impingement and not offered surgery. Not good enough. Hopefully at least some of the nerve damage isn't permanent.
If you've got access to an experienced surgeon that's great news. Be aware that adr isn't always indicated and sometimes a fusion is more appropriate... a common issue is facet degeneration. There is plenty of info out there about this on various forums and sites.
There are many lumbar disc replacements available now. There isn't a standout prosthesis that dominates the market. There are pros and cons to each, but to understand the difference requires a fair bit of research. If you are interested in looking through that sort of stuff u can pm me and I can give u a bit of a headstart. Each surgeon you consult with will generally have a prosthesis that they prefer to use on you... feel free to quiz them about it and how many ops they've performed.
I'd only caution that u do your due diligence.
Good luck,
Chris.
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