I'm glad your doing well. Recovery does take a long time. I think I was recovering for at least a year from spine surgery. My incision scar tissue does periodically tighten up and I stretch it out. Mt PT taught me a lot of Myofascial Release stretching that has helped a lot. I had to rehab and strengthen my neck because I was in a neck brace for 3 months and the muscles were weak, so holding up my head was tiring. I didn't want spine hardware, and my surgeon agreed to it if I stayed in the brace until fused which was 3 months. That was worth it, and I have no worries about hardware.

My C5/C6 fusion was 8 years ago. I was loosing the coordination in my arms due to spinal cord compression, and this surgery at Mayo gave me back that coordination and strength in my arms. I am an artist, so it was the logical choice to have the surgery. Here is the story.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/