Well I suppose its true to say that the pre-existing pain went away for me, obviously replaced temporarily by the after effects of the surgery which was well managed for me and I had much less pain than I expected post surgery. The main discomfort was the trach which was out after a small number of days (I can't remember how many but less than 1 week). Almost a year ago for me and things are going well so far.
Good luck and best wishes.