surgery for leaking disk?

I was recently diagnosed with a leaking disk between L4-L5.  The doc talked about 2 surgical options.  I would love to hear from anyone who has had surgery for this.  I am learing of having any surgery but I have been suffering with intense back pain and siatica for a year now.  Pain managment helps but I do not want to take meds my whole life, plus I am still very limited to what I can do everyday.

If you have had a surgery like fusion or disk replacement I would love to hear what the outcome has been, what the recovery is like, was it worth it?   Would you do it again or not at all if you could?

It seems like I have been dealing with a Domino effect that I sopose started with the disk riping.   I have had many tests and am waiting on MRI and CT for the surgeon to look at. 

I have read about both options on several websites, but I would really love to actually hear from a person who has had one of the surgeries!

Thank you

RBC