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@BobbinBird
Hey Aroogah, that's an excellent write-up. Most of my own back issues are pretty specific as I was born with a quit rare condition and my history won't be relevant to most people here, but I had a bunch of spinal fusions/surgery which meant that I was fused down to L3 and eventually that causes similar problems to yous. Due to the pressure of my spine on the three remaining discs in my back, I ended up with the L3-L4 disc completely worn away (it herniated then degenerated away over time), the facet joint at the back broke and the entire fused spine slipped backwards off L4, causing a form of spondylolisthesis.
I had an XLIF procedure which is basically the same as your PLIF only done as a minimally invasive surgery going through an existing anterior surgical scar on my side in order to get the disc spacer in to restore vertebral height. They then went in through the midline of my spine (again, using an existing scar) to place the pedicle screws and rods. This extended my fusion down to L4, pulled my spinal column upright again (I'd been leaning backwards) and restored my posture as well as decompressing the nerves that had been getting squashed due to the lack of vertebral height. When I woke up from the surgery I was in far less pain that I had been right before it, it was amazing.
I have photos of them doing the surgery - I asked for these because I love stuff like this and wish there was more detail on them but they're quite cool anyway (plus bonus BQ with bedpans on his head, for your delectation):
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