Should I be worried?

[on pause]

Just when I think I have things under control, something new pops up and makes me rethink everything! My previous threads are "10 years of suffering and only 23" and "summer of surgery ahead" in case you need more detailed info about whats going on.

Since my herniation in November (L4/L5) I got used to a certain level of pain above what I had felt the previous 2 years. About 2 weeks ago I noticed my pain getting bad again and attributed it to the weather changes or bending wrong or something. It sort of got much worse though and I was bedridden all last week. I was able to move, but the pain was terrible and the sciatica was a bad as its ever been. My left leg was also kind of lame and I had to drag it along a little bit, but just thought it was the same damaged nerve acting up.

The past week though I'm getting radiating pain down the front of both thighs and it is worse than the sciatica sensation I'm used to. it starts at about the hip level and radiates about half way down my thighs, evenly on both sides and hasn't let up. I also have started getting a bit of numbness on my right thigh in the same place it is numb on the left side, sort of the outer area and behind the knee. My right arm though is also going a little numb on the outer side between my wrist and elbow, but comes and goes.

I'm a little concerned about these new symptoms, and that they may change my surgery plans which I only just figured out! Should I get an MRI based off these symptoms, or could it just be a weather change, pulled muscle, etc?

Christina