@ljc50
I am so far glad I did the surgery in L3-L5 to decompress and fuse those levels. I had L4 slipping over L5 and severe stenosis at L4-L5 causing significant neurogenic claudication symptoms (pain/weakness and numbness in lower back, hips, buttocks, thighs and into feet on both sides). After the surgery, I have improved significantly and pain has reduced and numbness and weakness has also improved. I have new hip flexor nerve pain after the surgery and not sure if this is from nerve regeneration and healing from being compressed over 10 years. That is my hope. My understanding is it can be a full 6 months to a year to fully heal from surgery to determine the full effect of having surgery and if symptoms improve or go away. I have some stiffness and some reduced range of motion but glad I did the surgery even though it was extremely painful at first. I’m glad I got the surgery when 55 and I did not wait any longer. I am not sure I would want to try to recover when older. My recommendation is to get as fit as possible before surgery to help with recovery after surgery. Physical therapy would be good to help strengthen core and back/leg muscles to support new movements after surgery.