I AM 5 weeks post op ALIF and when i woke in recovery i was screaming in agony .i needed so much IV pain killers [morphine/diamorphine and ketamine} the anaesthetist and rest rest of the team said that they had never in 40 years had to give so much pain relief...i was and still and not very well at all .i am 45 male and had 2 previous back ops i have been in pain for 15 years but the last 5 years have been hell and i have needed loads of painkillers .
so now my lower back has just started to come back to life {i mean pain } i am sorry to tel you that you may} get a return in lower back pain .i have also got horrible leg /hip/foot and general dont feel well pain .i am off my food and i am finding the whole thing very hard work .i feel like i will never be the same again and feel that i have made a very big mistatke.it sound like you have been very lucky so my advice to you would be very careful in your recovery .good luck
tony {UK}

I am with you so don't feel weird. I am 10 days post op L5S1 ALIF and I am in minimal pain. I had some tightness in my hips post op from being on the OR table for 4 hrs but it wasn't painful just tight. My 3 yr old springer jumped on me yesterday which caused me to turn with my brace on so right now I'm just sore in my right hip fom where I turned. I am resting to help the healing and any damage from my twist. I am walking well and building up my walks every day trying to go from 3-4 small walks to 2 longer walks. I do take a solid 2 hr nap in middle of day which I want to ween off of. I am 41 female in good health with no previous surgeries besides a csection. My incision is healing well - DERMABOND as my dressing and is ideal. I am bloated but my vascular surgeon told me to expect that or at least 3 weeks. I use my grabber a lot but do find myself reaching without thinking. I also bought a extension rod on amazon that my razor can attach to and thank goodness!