A brief update. This being Friday night, it is now roughly eight and half days or so since my surgery. 

All things considered (you know, like they cut my back open and all), I think I'm coming along well. I had a short ride in the car today to see how I would do, and it wasn't the worst thing I've ever experienced. Getting into the car, and for the duration of the ride, I was actually ok. Getting back out of the car, and for a couple hours after the ride, I was noticeably stiffer and more sore than beforehand. But, that's the nature of recovery- seeing how far you've come, finding how far you've yet to go.

On a good note, however, I've definitely noticed that, apart from the pain of the surgical site (which is not insignificant, to be sure) I have felt virtually none of the previous "injury" pain- meaning the stabbing, shocking pains that would trigger on certain angles of sitting or bending with my back. Of course, I've been limiting the bending, as in not, to be inline with my recovery guidelines. Nevertheless, I am very eager to start feeling more of what this is going to be like after the surgery pain has passed and the installation sets up more permanently.

From the first glimpses I've had, it looks to be quite refreshing.