recoup time different for everyone

this is the lesson i need to learn myself. an example of one who took a long time to recouperate: nba star grant hill had actually retired due to this injury and, i think, post-op pains that lingered on for a long time. now he is back in action and playing.

another example: hockey goaltender dominick hasek went through the 90's with a chronic groin injury and had to eventually retire after being in and out of the game. since then he has found the right doctor and thus had surgery. now he is playing again. what i find interesting is that he definitely was pushing himself despite the injury, which i would think could make the nerve irritation (the pain of the injury) worse. at least that would make sense. goalie spilts (butterflies) and whatnot could be very taxing on abdominal and groin tissues that are already damaged.

there are more examples.
the bottom line is, the doctors who do this surgery really don't know how long it takes to recover. if you are a paid athlete, chances are you are monitored better than non-pros, thus you can get surgery in prompt time: thus better the chances you can recover properly. but as you can see that is not necessarily true just from looking a the two above examples.
if you have no helpful doctors near you, then it is really up to you to find the right doctor/physio/pt/etc that is willing to listen to your story and maybe a good physical therapy or similar protocol can be developed to your individual case.

i too am guilty of worry that i will not recoup enough to function without pain. but i am slowly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, thanks in part to others that have suffered and shared their stories. mine has been a long recovery but then again my case is different than many in the fact that i also had developed postural issues in my back, hip, knee, and ankle. these things oocured from years of wear n tear and unattended injuries. the sports hernia was probably just the icing on the cake. it is common that people develop compensatory patterns and thus painful muscle imbalances when they are chronically injured. in the case of ap, the longer you go with it, the worse imbalances become. i was out of balance before my injury became full blown. add 18 months of misdiagnosis, and *whammo*...