I was fortunate in that a fellow pilot had just had the operation himself by the same physician. I was down for about 2 days after the surgery (apparently, I was in much worse shape than my buddy - he got up and walked out post op). Ditto on the Vicodin for me - doubled up the dosage and I still couldn't sit up. But, like I said, I've been virtually pain free ever since. It's a tough call and every case is different. I wouldn't tell you that you should have surgery. It's just that I had a TON of people telling me not to do it and they turned out to be wrong. I guess what I'm trying to say is keep your options open. And definitely get multiple opinions.

Good Luck!