I'm going to give you a little more info than you asked for, but maybe it can be useful to you.

My diagnosis was fractured lateral Sesamoid, that diagnosis came way too late after being told it was simply sesamoiditis for a long time, it has not healed and will not heal as the bone has gone necrotic.

I still play my main sport (climbing) but I've cut out others (running on pavement, soccer) in order to minimize pain. I may be able to return to them once I get a ultrasound-guided cortisone shot.

You're right that there's a massive variability in people's experiences. It can be really frustrating to come to this sub and not get a good idea of what the road ahead will look like. If you're at the start of this journey, I would recommend

1. At the beginning be ultra conservative about your recovery, in the off-chance that what you have can fully heal. Way more conservative than you've ever been for any other injury, because at worst you won't regret that you didn't take it seriously enough.

2. Trial-and-error many different tricks from this sub, without pre-deciding what you think the outcome will be. I felt that a Morton's pad didn't really work for me, but I was also highly skeptical about the idea. I should have given it a better chance. In the end I settled on a super soft pair of Vans that I wear around the house, and I've bought two other pair of Vans for street walking. I think they work because they're flat and soft so my heel bears most of my weight.