A friend of mine from high school had it and had the surgery with the rods.
He had the surgery before I met him, but he'd talk about it now and then.
He was in the hospital for a month straight, and then some recovery at home. He became an awesome frigging gamer though from all the videogames in bed! (he's the one I'd whoop on occasion during fighting games - boy he'd get pissed!)
He developed pretty bad bedhead, and his hair at the base of his head never would grow back right, so he just grew the top long to cover it.
He didn't talk about the pain too much, but he did say it was pretty sucky being in bed so long.
