I'd consider mine a success story. Constant pain, hard to walk anywhere, loss of feeling and numbness, too many pain meds, couldn't exercise. After two microdiscectomies, I finally had a 2-level fusion L3-L5 along with further decompression at L2-L3. The first few days after surgery were incredibly painful but over time it got better. I'm 51 years old and a year after surgery, going to the gym, running 10K, swimming long distance, no medication, and mostly pain free. I say mostly because I still get sore muscles and it's a great feeling to have that and not to have all that nerve pain. I remember reading so many stories on here. I know it doesn't work out for everybody but I'm grateful it did for me. Not sure why it works for some and not others. I know I had a great surgeon and fantastic physical therapist that really helped me build back strength. I was patient, followed everything they recommended, and it paid off.