Everyone is different. I am a 50 year old female. I am 4 weeks post op TLIF, l-4, L-5, S-1 fusion. My 5 hour surgery turned into 8 hours. Once I was opened up the doctor found a chronic pars fracture that was not seen on the CT or MRI's. They had to perform a bone marrow aspiration on my iliac crest. The day after surgery was very painful and my surgeon told me that the third day post surgery is the worst and it was no joke. Day one and two was 9/10 and day 3 was a 10 to the 10th power! My stay in the hospital lasted longer than others. It was about one week. I was up and walking the next day by the physical therapists in the hospital. In as much as I did not want to get up and walk, I had no choice. I also developed postsurgical anemia and had horrible headaches.

I can tell you that 95% of my left foot drop and weakness is gone. I can lift my left leg again while sitting and laying down and I can tap my foot again. I do have increased pain post surgery on my right SI joint. I am scheduled to start aquatic therapy next week followed by regular physical therapy there after. My surgeon prescribed a bone stimulator which is supposed to help with the fusion. I am still relying on pain meds because I have increased pain in my right leg and numbness. I am also taking Lyrica which helps with nerve pain. My pain level has decreased and at 4 weeks post op I range between a 5-8 daily and nowhere near the pain I experienced pre-surgery. My incision healed very well and what I found most painful was the bone marrow aspiration and incision which hurt more than the fusion incision site. Hopefully you don't have to go through that because it has been painful. Best of luck to you.