Jim, sorry to hear that your still in some pain. I to had a spine surgery that failed to relieve my pain for the simple fact not all back pain comes from nerve or disc.Most people suffer from muscle-skeletal injury and really don't need surgery, so unless you have a positive sign of disc or nerve issues then you might want to look into PROLOTHERAPY! I have been fighting back pain for 6 yrs now with all tests showing negative results except for a Diagnostic Muscle-skeletal Ultrasound. That test showed major damage to my lower back muscles(tendons) Multifidus which is important in every move you make and very painful if damaged. I have been doing prolotherapy for several months which has reduced my pain, I'm two treatments into what the doc said would require about 6-8 so it take patients and time. Maybe prolotherapy isn't for you but maybe it's just what you need,becuse if your in a PM stage then what could it hurt. Luck for you there is a well known prolo doc near you. This treatment works after all the Mayo Clinic supports it. I hope you find relief and never give up. Best regards,John.
http://www.aaomed.org/page.asp?id=40&user_id=83128
http://www.getprolo.com/
http://www.drmarkwheaton.com/Prolotherapy.htm good info
http://drreeves.com/ lots of research