Your surgeons will provide you or your physio with a protocol which will relate to what they saw and what they did during the op. This will also be modified by the post-op course of recovery so it is to early to give you an idea on that.

In terms of fusions, I have seen many and all with good results. Of course that depends on the segments involved being the cause of the pre-existing problem. It does however sound like a useful thing to do at this stage, especially if there are unleylying fractures to the vertebrae causing inherent instability.

All my post op fusion clients have gone on to totally normal lives and are back skiing, show jumping and other hard core activities, many within 6 months. Skiing for some even earlier. I have only had one recent disc replacement and this did well, though after a review surgery as the artifical disc in the middle fell out and ended up in his stomach. He was however dropped onto the floor transferring off the surgical table. The stabilised it with a screw and now he is totally fine. I also think that his was an experimental proceedure at the time and you are probably getting the latest implant.

We wish you well for the op, sounds like the results could be excellent. Do keep us posted