Thanks for the comment, Vincent! I'm glad you found the post helpful.

I do plan to write a more full update eventually, likely just editing the intro to the post. But until then, briefly:

As of today, a little more than 2 years later, the surgery was, I'd say, a massive success. I'm back at ~90% of my typical athletic/body ability, and don't really think about my back much day-to-day. I am not as flexible in either twisting or bending as I once was, but I'm happy with the tradeoff of little to no pain when sitting, standing, or sleeping. For example, I used to be able to touch the floor under my toes without much issue, but now I can get about down to my ankles. I used to be able to do a total back bend, but now wouldn't even try it.

I will occasionally have slight flare-ups, where I feel uncomfortable down my leg/calf again, particularly if I lift unsafely, work hard, or sit for many hours in a day for a few days. For example, splitting firewood is fine, but bending down weeding can cause a flare.

But the current flare-ups, which last a day or so, are 1/10 of the pain I used to feel all day, all night, every day, so it's mostly just mild occasional, much better, annoyance. Sitting on long plane flights is still pretty uncomfortable, but not quite the absolute hell it once was.

I don't think I've had any knock-on effects, such as poor posture, change in gait, etc -- my body has adjusted well to the slightly less flexibility.

I hope that helps!