Have you looked into disc nucleus replacement as an alternative to disc removal?
Read this
http://www.spine-health.com/research/discupdate/artificial/artificial03.html
I had surgery in June of this year on the L5-S1 disc. An MRI showed that it was herniated, but it turned out not to be. I had some scar tissue pinching a nerve, and some other issues. I'm nearly symptom free, but still recovering from the surgery.
How invasive is the procedure that you're looking at having?