@ldpdrrx Hello, I had ALIF surgery at L5-S1 back in November, so almost 6 months post-op. I never had Sciatica issues, either before or after the surgery, so unfortunately I can't help you with that. But the post-op recovery went better for my spine than I expected.

The first 6 weeks they tell you no Bending, Lifting, or Twisting (BLT). This is the toughest part, to not twist or bend is so unnatural, you have to really pay attention to every movement. The lifting isn't as difficult, just do not lift anything more than a pound or so for the first few weeks.

I had lower right back pain that ended up spreading around my right flank/oblique area. My surgeon found the disc at L5-S1 had collapsed on the right side, so he performed the ALIF surgery. Even though my back is doing well, surprisingly little pain in the area of the surgery, I still have pain in my right flank/oblique muscles that my doctors are trying to figure out.

The ALIF surgery seems to have been successful for my spine, and the one thing I would recommend anyone considering this surgery to do is to have your physical therapy plan in place. When you will start it, and what type of rehab you will need should already be decided on before the surgery. Unfortunately, my surgeon did not do this for me, even after I asked him about starting physical therapy when we were still discussing the surgery to be done.