I had this surgery back in April, the double whammy that sucked is it was 6 weeks after i had hip surgery and it was on the same side. I have seen some guys on here that say the surgery was not to bad for them, honestly i thought it sucked balls, lol, i had it for approx 10 years but had very little problems with it, then 1 night before bed it starting protruding out more, i reduced it then it came back with vengeance and i was in severe pain, went to the ER, got CT then on for emergent surgery. Mine was very low close to femoral artery i have a scar that is 2.5-3 inches long. The first 7 days or so was the worse as far as pain, when it came to eating i just about lived off of scrambled eggs and oats, i ate small meals 300 calories for the first 7-10 days, more than that and i would get nauseated and start getting constipated. I was advised not to pick anything up over 10-15 pounds for 6 weeks, i followed that advise as i did not want to take a chance and be back in there getting cut again, i did take some pain meds but mostly at bedtime i think for the first week.