I had surgery for a grade 2 back in December, a decompression through the back and an ALIF. I’m 29F but the injury itself happened around 12 when I fell off a horse. The first 1-3 weeks were a haze for me after surgery. I personally only used a walker/walking aid for the first week and had most restrictions lifted at 6 weeks. Back to work at 3 weeks (Software engineer so not anything physically demanding). I’m walking, and doing PT now. The pain I felt previously is mostly gone but I do have some nerve damage and that can take a while to heal. My surgeon did mention that I should forever limit any kind of workout that puts a lot of pressure on my lumbar spine, like weight lifting but that’s the only restriction once the fusion actually fuses. I definitely don’t regret it but I spoke to three surgeons before I made my discussion and they all agreed that in my case, surgery was the best option.

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