Good luck Bob, which disk is it?
I ruptured L-5 / S-1 in 1997, carried a vanity up the stairs by myself with too much weight out in front of me
disk popped. I had back troubles for a few years and had gotten by with massage so i thought the leg sciatica pain I had was due to muscular as that's what the doctors told me. I kept working and it got worse as i was also building my own addition on my house. I framed the whole thing wih the ruptured disk
It got so bad I went to someone who knew it was not muscular and suggested I get an MRI
I got a neurosurgeon to operate in a week. A lumbar lamenectomy they called it. Recovery took a couple months of therapy and my wife kept us above water somehow, then I got back to work slowly easing into shopwork while continuing to strengthen the back. I'm glad I was young.
I bet you'll do fine but every case is different.
Like was mentioned, the longer you wait , the more nerve damage can occur.
Find the right guy for you and get well soon.
I feel bad for the nurses