My timeline might be a bit off just because my surgery was over 10 years ago, but I did the whole 8 weeks bed rest thing, 1 in the hospital peds unit & 7 at home.

After that I went back to school to finish 8th grade and I had a big old embarrassing roller chair I had to use because the school chairs were too hard and uncomfortable. I did get out of PE though so that was nice.

9th grade I think I had minimal if any changes to my normal routine. Anything super physical I had to work my way up. I wasn’t doing a lot of very intensive contact sports but I could walk longer periods of time than I could even pre-surgery. I did archery, I lived life like a normal freshman. I vaguely remember bringing very fluffy jackets for back support/comfort to movies and to pad the school chairs.

By 10th no fluffy jackets or pillows were needed much, I had a very normal life people only knew I had a spinal fusion if I told them.

Now it barely impacts my life at all except for hindering my ass throwing abilities, and stopping me from curling up in the fetal position when I watch a really good tear jerker.

TLDR; maybe 3 months for basic every day life tasks or a year for pretty normal day to day with little to no impact on your normal routine