You are lucky. I recently had a laminectomy and discetomy in October with my neuro surgeon. I was doing better with the cronic back pain, but within the last 2 weeks, I've developed numbness and tingling in both legs that is annoying. I work with a pain specialist, and he has tried 10 different small procedures to lessen my cronic back pain. This all started 10 years ago when I had a spinal fusion at L5/S1. It's is downhill after then. My last try was a spinal stimulator which I had high hopes. Unfortunately, that didn't help. I have been on Norco from my pain specialist for five years to get me to function, since I live alone. I still have limits to what I can do, like take long walks. I use to like traveling, but can no longer go on long trips.
My primary doctor said to lose 20 pounds, do yoga, and go for short walks. He gave me Wegovey to help me lose weight since I have difficult dieting. We'll see what happens. I like your post because it sounds like my primary's advise.