Long time reader, first time poster. Thought I would add my story to the mix as I had a microdiskectomy of L5/S1 on Valentine's day and can give you some insight to my experiences and recovery.
A little history: I am 28 years old, like to consider myself fairly athletic (D3 track and field athlete in Decathlon and jumps). Last year was my first year in the course, by the end of the year I was consistently running full passes at 15 off/30 mph. Have always had random on and off back pain. Would flair up after skiing too many sets or doing stupid (like fishing too much). Around Christmas time I started noticing some pain in my lower leg along with pain around my sciatic notch. Progressed to where I had almost complete numbness on the lateral side of my lower leg/foot and strength had dropped to where I could no longer do a single leg calf raise.
My wife is a PT so she was fairly certain I had some impingement on my S1 nerve root. An MRI showed a large herniation where my S1 nerve root was not even visible leaving the vertebrae. For me surgery was the only option I really considered, but bear in mind I could do next to nothing without being extremely uncomfortable. I could not stand for more than 2 minutes, could not work out at all, extension of my back was impossible and vicodin and oral steroids did nothing to dull the nerve pain. The only thing that would relieve my pain was traction. Met with the neuro surgeon and he agreed that in my current state it was not likely to get better and waiting may just increase nerve damage.
After surgery nerve pain was gone instantly, slight ache around incision site was all the discomfort I had. Walked alot the first month and obeyed lifting restrictions (nothing more than 10-15 pounds). After the first month was told I could pretty much do anything I wanted but to listen to my back. Started low impact cardio at 4 weeks, running at 8 weeks. I am 12 weeks post op this Thursday and my back does not stop me during workouts. I do various body weight exercises (lunges, squats, single leg squats, single leg deadlifts, planks) and my back is not an issue. That being said I have completely changed how I even pick up a simple pencil from the floor. I no longer sit, (I'm a middle/high school science teacher and rarely sit for more than 10 minutes at a time when I am at work), and at 6'1" have dropped from 185# from last summer down to 170# now, which I did to help reduce stress on my back in the future.
As for skiing, the surgeon said I should be good to go by the summer. When the ice finally melts off our lakes I plan to rip it up, but "smartly" at first. No long sets, and no more than 1 set every other day for a few weeks.
Sorry for the long first post! Just wanted to give you my example of a microdiskectomy. I agree with everyone else where surgery should be a last option, but for me I was truly at that point. Sunvalleylaw, don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about my recovery or procedure.