I am four years post PLIF. I used to powerlift and had squats into the 700 lb range. I have no aspirations of ever squatting that heavy again, but I am afraid to ever do plates on a back squat.
Anyone here have a fusion or experience with something like this?
That sucks man. I didn't have a fusion but I did herniate the same disc and had surgery to remove the protruding mass 9 years ago. The surgeon told me in my follow-up that "Wow, you sure decided to really herniate the hell out of that thing." I probably didn;t take it the way he intended but I can laugh it off now. With that backstory out of the way, I want to tell you that you absolutely can squat and dl "heavy" again but you need to take the proper precautions, prepare your body them and (
most importantly) prepare your mind for it.
After my surgery, it took a while to even consider getting a barbell on my back or picking up a weight off the floor. I finally deadlifted 315 3 years later. Granted, I wasn't really trying most of that time because I convinced myself that "Who cares? I don't need to do that". Then something clicked in me about 3 years ago and (fast forward to now) now I'm trying to crack a 600# dl and my grip is the limiter lol.
So, your mental game needs to be in order when and if you want to squat again. That is (to me) the most important piece here. Physically, a pretty extensive period of core strengthening is in order in my opinion. At least 6 months and a year isn't out of the question. I think you'll know when you're ready.
Now, if you just want to squat with more than some db's, there's plenty of options I'm sure you're aware of that won't put at much strain on your lower back. Front squats, Zercher squats (the king of core work imo lol), belt squats (just need a decent setup for these), and heavy-ish single leg work is great too.
Take care and I wish you the best man.