I haven't had my appointment yet -- later this week -- but what I've been told so far is that the surgery would probably be microdiscectomy, which, doing some research, looks to be a laparoscopic option where they remove the part of the disc that has squeezed out along with a little bone just for access. And they don't even cut muscle -- they can just kind of push it out of the way -- so postop pain should be lessened.

I'll let you guys know what I find.