The odds are your new normal is a floating target and as long as you realize that, it will be workable. I guess the bottom line is this step you took is in the right direction. Tonight or better said, last night I set the alarm clock to see some of the last of the Olympics and each time I woke up I awoke out of a deeper sleep and it was harder to walk across the room.
That is my new normal and it has been there for awhile and as distracting as it is it is still better than the time that took place prior to my surgery.
But even that has changed. When my back was operated on I was laid up for months. Now they have you out of bed as if the surgery was no more complex than cutting toe nails. Glad to hear things are looking up for you.
Don't do anything too stupid and your new normal might go a long way's towards restoring a life you once knew!

 

I figured to venture back here, reconnect, and update on my condition... Nearly two work weeks into "normal" life, I'm no longer taking any medication at all for my back... Most of the time, I'm pain free, and what pain that does occasionally arise, I don't even feel a desire to medicate...

I did learn from being off work that if your household is supported by one income, and you're already living paycheck to paycheck, and you miss three of the paychecks, you come to count and value every penny you spend on anything at all... I can't complain though, my lights are still on, vehicles haven't been repossessed yet, and I'm working again, which means that in a few short weeks, things will be fine again...

 

Good to hear. Did you lose any range of motion?

 

No range of motion lost in my back... My left leg may be permanently restricted in that regard, or it may improve with use, provided I don't relapse...

 

I can relate to the paycheck to paycheck life and you are ahead of me by some 30 or so years on being pain free enough of to deal with things which out meds. So glad to hear things have worked out as well as they have.
Just don't over do things.