I had my surgery done at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Dr, Downey was my surgeon. The experience, although terrifying to begin with, was not as bad as I thought it would be. I had no pain, I was in the hospital 7 days, sitting up 2nd day, walking the 3rd. Home the 7th.
I suggest getting into the best shape of your life before surgery, I worked out 3-4 days a week before this was discovered. Could have been catastrophic, but doing the elective surgery saved my life.