Steve,
You have my sympathy. I herniated a disc in my neck this past fall. I spent the better part of the last six months absolutely miserable. On February 14th I had anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at level 6-7. I'm four weeks out now and have no more pain! I'm guessing if they know it's a herniated disc you have already had an mri. If not, that should be your next step. Every situation is different, but if possible I wouldn't let anyone try to drag the process out by going to physical therapy, chiropractor, shots, etc. Dr. Rahman out of Saint Mary's in Decatur profomed my surgery and he was fantastic. I did my research, and couldn't find a negative thing about him. Every staff member at the hospital that I interacted with said, if they or a family member needed to have this type of surgery, that they would want him to do it. Best of luck, and if you have any questions please let me know.