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For what it's worth, I think if the fusion didn't work you wouldn't lose your leg. I was told the same thing about ankle replacement--that it woudl be a good option for me when I get older, but not yet. I am too young and too active, and the replacement would wear out and have to be replaced again at least once and possible twice. Instead my surgeon did my fusion in such a way that it could come out and be replaced if fusion didn't take. But the good news is that my fusion was spectacularly successful. And I'm not exaggerating when I use "specctacularly"--he told me every time I went how good it looked. Because fusion is something he normally did only in much older people, mine healed way faster and better than what he was used to seeing. Maybe you'll have good luck too. :)

Thanks for posting, Kris, and please keep us updated as to what your second opinion says. And don't forget to get a third or fourth opinion if you need to. The last surgery I had in an attempt to get it fixed before fusion was the FOURTH surgeon I went to. The first three all said there was nothing they could do because the joint was too bad. The fourth said,"Oh, I think I can scrape some bone off," and he gave me a good 5 years of relief.