Purpose: In the United Kingdom, surgery is the greatest single component of expenditure for managing low back pain with approximately 4500 lumbar spinal fusion surgery (LSFS) procedures performed annually. LSFS is used to manage pain attributed to degenerative or spondylolisthetic cause, resistant to conservative management. Low level current evidence suggests inconclusive outcomes and questions cost effectiveness. With high costs and large variations in outcomes it is important to identify prognostic factors (for poor outcome) and develop a stratification tool that can inform clinical decision making related to post-operative physiotherapy. Understanding the lived experience of the patient is an important part of this process. The purpose of this study was to capture a weekly record of life as lived in the first 4 weeks following LSFS from the patients own perspective.