Time frame until surgery

I am scheduled for Lumbar fusion (L4-L5) in about a month. It seems like a long road to get to this point. Long story short, I ruptured a disc in 2020 and had "clean up" surgery. I was good for about a year and then the back pain started. In the spring of 2023, I met with my Dr. who referred me to an orthopedic office. It took me 6 months to get in, X-ray showed nothing and at my request, they did an MRI which showed (among other things) Foraminal stenosis, severe on the right, moderate on the left. Went through the "conservative" treatments for nearly a year: PT and pain injections which didn't work. Finally planning on the surgery. So...it's taken about a year and a half to get to the surgery (which is the only thing that will actually fix the problem). I know the doctors try the conservative treatments first but that seems like a long time to get a problem fixed. Anyone else have a similar story?