Horrific Arthritis bone fusion?

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My mom has severe osteoarthritis (her dr. called it horrific arthritis) in her left midfoot. It's to the point that she can't walk or stand for any amount of time without extreme pain and swelling. She literally gets a lump on the top of her foot that you cannot touch even lightly. She has tried steroid injections, a boot and even a cast for a few weeks but to no avail. Her dr. is recommending fusion as the last resort but I don't know if it is the best course of action. She has had surgeries for other ortho problems (shoulder, back) with mixed results and reading the posts in this forum make me nervous that surgery will not be a solution and may make her problem worse. Are there any alternatives that I don't know about or is surgery really the only option?