Been there, still feel it, daily. Wish my neurosurgeon had been able to talk workers comp into a fusion the first time. 2/02 got squashed by a 300# weight on a staircase. Tread riser spacing one inch higher, no damage, one inch lower, wheelchair. First surgery Sept 03, micro discectomy. Sneezed in November, surgery failed... Second surgery in Jun 2004, discectomy/laminectomy, with extra bone removed for "good measure".
Worked at a bike shop from 5/05 to 12/06 with no problems. Went back to driving tractor trailers from 1/07-1/11, carried a cane in the sleeper. Bike wreck (20 mph) in 2/08, broke the ball off my left shoulder, split the ball into 4 chunks. Have had ongoing adhesions (muscle sticking to the plate/screws) and elbow problems. Elbow was never x-rayed, but, I can feel a "floater", and any pressure at all on my left arm results in elbow to finger tips going dead on me. Fun fun fun.
Have ridden once since moving back to TN in 3/11. All of 4 miles round trip. Stock seat/bars VN1500 Drifter. Bars are too low. I can ride my 15" ape equipped Savage for 4-5 hours with no problems. I rode my 1963 Honda once... I'm good for 20 minutes on a perfect back day....
Don't give up on riding again. It will be a painful, slow process to deal with recovering from the surgery. If the quacks have been dosing you with cortisone, it will be worse. I got to experience the "thrill" of a cortisone shot being accidentally injected into a cord/branched nerve bundle junction...
Look on the bright side, Guiness does a great job of boosting Flexeril and Percocet...