Mary,
Are you working right now? What are your symptoms - low back pain, leg pain, etc.? How long has this been going on? Did it come on suddenly or gradually?
The vast majority of people with stenosis, disc degeneration, and disc bulges never need surgery and are helped tremendously by conservative treatments such as epidural injections, PT and chiropractic. It can take time and can be very frustrating to endure, but often does work eventually.
Does your doctor think is it possible that your job caused your back problems? I would ask him/her if you haven't already. This is important because if so, you would be eligible for worker's comp. and it would be much more likely that your employer would try to find a more sedentary job for you.
We almost all will start experiencing some disc degeneration/stenosis and often even bulges/herniations as we age. The real question is whether the nerves are being pinched severely enough that surgery will be needed to correct the problem. Some of us have wide canal spaces that are more forgiving, and some have very narrow spaces that get us into trouble quickly.
The activities you mention in your job duties (bending, lifting, twisting) are trouble makers for people with back problems, and especially for people who have had spine surgery. Whether you can do this work in the future will really depend on how severe your condition is - again, your doctor should be able to help guide you here.
Also, as far as being overweight, you can probably already guess that I'll say this is one of the worst things for a person with spine problems. I am also overweight but am down 25 pounRAB from my high weight. I have 20 - 25 more to go to get to my ideal weight and I am working slowly and diligently at it with results. It really takes a lifestyle change and commitment to exercise and eat lots of fruits and veggies, as well as avoiding fats and sugars. No one can make this change except for you, but if you do commit to this change you will reap many other health benefits also (lower blood pressure, reduced risk for diabetes, fewer joint problem, more energy, etc.).
Good luck!
