I had my surgery March 11th, and left the hospital yesterday, March 13th. For me the couple of hours in recovery were hell, but I just kept telling my muddled brain that it will continue getting better, minute by minute, and it did. After 3 or 4 hours I felt pretty decent and it has continued to improve. I haven't need too much pain medication, and nothing for nausea, and I would say the worst thing is the discomfort from the staples, which is basically kept in check by some tylenol.
If, like me, you haven't had surgery before you should know that you will quickly get used to having IVs and injections and people asking if you've been farting or not There will be low points but they all pass. In my experience the nurses were great, and with some visits from a friend, and a laptop loaded with a bunch of tv shows and movies I hadn't seen it all went about as well as can be expected.
I just want to encourage those that have yet to have the operation that there is a strong possibility for a completely smooth recovery and don't be too frightened of what bad things may happen, because you can't control it anyways. If you were strong enough to make the decision to go through with it you will be strong enough to handle whatever comes your way. Try to think of how much you have to gain in your life by losing.
Good luck.