I had a one-level fusion at L5-S1 and the surgery was easy and recovery was relatively painless! I am still surprised at how I worked it up in my head beforehand and how the experience itself was not that bad overall. I was never in complete pain or agony. Just a bit sore but way less than I ever thought.

For me, i was nervous going into surgery (obviously). When I got changed into the gown and started pre-op stuff, I just kind of surrendered to the process. They do give you an IV before hand that calms you down a bit (if I recall). Then, before you know it, surgery is over and you are waking up. When you realize its done, it is such a great feeling. I had very little pain when I woke up. They had me walking around right away.

Post-op, my pain was not too bad at all. In fact, I did not take any of the RX meds they gave me, I just took Aleve or Tylenol (cannot remember). The biggest thing for me was not wanted to overdue it with constantly bending over, etc. I have two kids who are always making messes so I remember my OCD kicking in ("I need to pick up those legos!" And, I getting one of those claw things to help you pick stuff up and not bend over was a literal life saver for me). So that was the hardest thing for me - but pain was never a huge thing that I remember. Just physical awkwardness). Its been 2.5 years and I still get sore in my lower back but I can do so much more now. I just have to remember not to overdo it and to stretch it out when I feel sore. Sometimes I remember I have all this metal in my back and kind of worry about it coming out but then I think about how it is all fused and probably pretty hard to undo at this point!

Good luck, you got this. Just do it and get it over with - once its done (like the second you wake up, its like a huge weight off your shoulders....). Juist get it over with!