Betsey,
My recovery was exceptionally smooth, in my not so professional opinion. You can take a look at my recovery progression over in the post-op forum. Here's a link to my updates:
http://adrsupport.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8315
I definitely agree with the others on doing conservative treatments first, but definitely keep in mind quality of life aspect. It's good not to rush into such a major surgery, but there's always two sides to the whole situation. Hopefully the conservative treatments help, otherwise, I guess we'll see you in the post-op forums at some point.