Welcome to the boards dude...  
 Congrats
Congrats on taking action against the curse!!!
To answer your questions...
For many, it's day surgery. You are in and out on the same day. I arrived at the hospital at 8AM and was home by 3PM. The surgery itself took an hour and a half. For others, they stay overnight at the hospital and leave the next day... I'm not sure it they let you stay over at a clinic thought...
If you have a desk job, then 3 days R&R should suffice. If you have a physical job that involves lifting, then you should consider taking 2-3 weeks off for the initial healing...
The general consensus on this site regarding exercise is to wait 3 weeks minimum before returning to any exercise routine... Even then, start out slowly and use light weights...  

For most there is no real pain, just a slight discomfort.
IF you achieve good results... then yes, it is worth it...
Waiting for you on the '
Other Side' my man!  

GB...