Looking for others who are going through the same thing

I was taken to A + E on November the 18th 2022 and diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome. I had been complaining of worsening back pain to my doctor for approx 4 years. Each time being fobbed off with pain relief. Some days I was completely crippled and couldn’t move. These episodes came in waves. I attended a chiropractor who initially helped but I found my improvements to stall if I didn’t see him every 3 weeks, and it was very expensive. I am now in debt due to the amount of money I had to pay out for it! He xrayed me and noticed that my vertebrae between L5/L4 we significantly smaller than the others. He diagnosed me with DDD, and that with maintenance it could be slowed down. I explained to my doctor what he had said and it was dismissed! Again I am in agony, paying a fortune for private care and getting nowhere. Eventually my doctor sent me for another X-ray but it came back normal. I insisted on an MRI, but I was told I didn’t really fit the criteria. So I somehow managed to live with the pain and get on with it! Fast forward to March 2022. The pain I was getting was worsening and becoming more frequent and intense. I went to a new GP who thought it was strange nothing had been done for so long. He refereed me for an MRI and prescribed me Stronger pain relief and lidocaine patches.
This helped a little bit,again, still not ideal. I get told in June that I don’t fit the criteria for an MRI and that I need to go to Physio first to see if that works. I had already done a course of physio to no avail. Upset with this decision the gp tells me to hang in there and jump through the hoops which will eventually lead to an MRI. 3 sessions into my physio I am struggling. On Monday morning I awake with a numb bum and saddle area. I don’t think too much of this as the pain isn’t all that bad. It comes and goes. But Friday morning I was at work and all of a sudden the numbness came back badly. It was a very odd feeling. I phoned my gp, they told me to go straight to A+E. After 8 hours in A+ E and an MRI scan later, I was diagnosed with a severely herniated disc L5/S1 and cauda equina. I went straight into surgery. After coming round from my surgery I was in pain but manageable. I was traumatised as it had all happened so quickly. I asked the surgeon weather this herniation had been there a long time and he said he was unsure. I knew it had been, all these years I had suffered with this herniated disc, it finally gave up the ghost and herniated further causing crushing of the cauda equina nerves. I was so angry and cross nobody had listened to me!
Anyway 8 weeks post op and things are OK. I am still needing to take a lot of painkillers. The numbness has gone and my bladder is working 95%. But the past week I have needed more pain relief. I wake in the night with excruciating pain, unable to sleep. In the morning it takes me 10 mins to get out of bed due to stiffness and pain. Am I really meant to still be in this much pain? The GP says it’s healing pain but tbh I have lost all confidence in healthcare professionals. I am still waiting for a review with the neurologist!
I am not sure if I can live with this pain on a daily basis for the rest of my life! Is it scarring pain? Is it another disc herniation? I need answers and I am getting nowhere. Has anybody else experienced this? It would be nice to know I am not alone.