Sadly I don't think you'll learn much by reading peoples' experiences. People are medically different, surgeons are of differing skill levels, and Person A's experiences might not be applicable to you. Said another way - probability stats for spine surgeries are, at best, gross indicators and may NOT be indicative of what you may experience...

I just have completed three planned surgeries in C and L and my strategy was this: (1) Select the best facility possible for the surgery. (2) Have all radiological work (and there's lots of that) done on the very best equipment there is. (3) Connect with a top-notch surgeon (I was adamant it had to be neuro rather than ortho). (4) Mutually develop a surgical plan/strategy. Then - just execute the plan and trust the process. Good luck!!!