And am also having decompression and fusion surgery with instrumentation Mar 13/09 on my l4/s1. I am sooo not looking forward to the recovery either but i'm optimistic that the outcome will be well worth it. 2 years of sciatic pain and such. Im 50 yrs young and very healthy and active. so i can't wait to get this done with. My doctor assures me that it will be 90% successful and that i should be bopping around like a 15 yr old in no time