Thanks, Gandalf. Yep, I'm back and doing fine. The pain was almost non-existent. Which I finally realized is becase, to access the area of my vertebrae the surgeon had to work on and fuse together/clean up, he had to sever nerve/pain fibers on the way in. This has truly been the easiest surgery I ever had. There's been some swelling, trouble swallowing, and hoarseness, and I hate wearing a cervical collar, but the pain itself has been almost non-existent. The most painful thing is having my wings clippped. I'm not allowed to drive, ride in a car, sit and lie in certain ways, etc. So I'm entertaining myself with DVDs, books, and this place (and a couple of other fun distractions). I never before appreciated how much I enjoyed doing pretty much exactly what I wanted to do precisely when I wanted to do it. I will from now on, though.