I had fusion in my cervical spine about a year ago.
I didn't need a brace but it was hard to do anything
for a couple of weeks then slowly got easier.
I also had two lumbar spine surgery but no hardware.
I don't think you should be to scared but just know it does take
a while to get comfortable and feel normal again.
I found having hardware put in was much less painful than having
parts of two discs removed. It's not much info but I hope it helps.
Best of luck with the surgery and recovery.