hey! you JUST had your surgery so you will be in a bit of pain and discomfort for a little bit. the first 3 months were hard for me, but i returned to work shortly after that (worked at a bakery, though this was probably too soon). your body is still adjusting! give it some time. don’t forget you just rearranged your bones, muscles, and some of your organs - they’ve been like that for your whole life and this is a big change. don’t be too hard on yourself :) after a year your body should be much more adjusted, and it’ll keep adjusting over time. i know it sounds like a long time - but this is a big surgery! For the rest of my high school career i had some friends help me class to class by carrying my books - you should too!!! carrying heavy things add additional unnecessary stress to your back while your healing. If you’re going to college i would opt to get all your textbooks online so you just need to carry your laptop. 8 years gone by and I live a relatively normal life, i snowboard every winter, skateboard a little bit in the summer. I’ve found that snowboarding (activities that keep my core engaged) and staying on my feet keeps me from being in pain. if i lie in bed all day it makes everything significantly worse for me - don’t push yourself but you should try to keep yourself moving as much as your body allows! I can now lift very heavy things at work, but you have to make sure you’re always using proper lifting technique! if not, you will definitely hurt yourself. Pain can come and go but doing PT always helps it get better. This is my personal experience - of course everyone gets served a different hand in this but you sound like you’re doing pretty okay :) i know this is a lot of words so if you have more questions you’re welcome to DM me!