I'm so sorry to hear of all your troubles. I had to giggle (sorry) by the fact that you ruptured a disc sitting down, as I did the SAME THING. I was riding in a car, when all of a sudden I was struck with the WORST PAIN I'd ever had (I thought). That was the 2nd herniation I'd had.
I've had 2 open surgeries, and they will NEVER touch me again. After each surgery I was worse than when I went in. Now I'm disabled and have been deemed inoperable by several doctors and a head of neurosurgery of a huge hospital. I'm on disability now and can't work.

All surgery did was make a mess of my spine, and leave me disabled. That's the story of a LOT of people. And I read an article (I wish I'd written down where it came from, but it was a medical journal) that said that latest studies have shown that people who have spinal surgery have the SAME RESULTS as those people who have only physical therapy!!! Wish I had known that.
I wish you the very best! God bless and TRY to get comfortable. Hugs, Lee