Back surgery and Diskectomies

I recently had a L4-L5 diskectomy operation. It turns out that it's quite common amongst people whom I work with, yet they aren't the "athletes" we claim to be. I'm going on 6 weeks of laying down, reclining and walking short distances(sound pretty easy, but being this lazy is driving me crazy). Does anyone have any successful experiences with returning to skiing after a this surgery? I figure since the MD told me I'd be skiing by new-years he'd meant groomers, but he wa confident I could charge by late february. So I was hoping to do lot's of touring to really get in shape, while avoiding moguls and packed out landings. So ... anyone with succes or utter failure stories to guide me in my recovery??
Much appreciated and Cheers.