Year 2001 I was hit by that lumbar dislocation, L4 and L5 disks slipped.
I came under orthopedical treatment by a physical therapist, the doctor sent me to her and said that she knew more about the spine and back then they did. She put me in an autotraction devise that was very effective. Meanwhile under the whole summer I was going on heavy painkillers that was horrible to get away from. Talk about abstinence! No more drugs of that kind whatsoever for me, thanks.
The physical therapist knew about my desire for paddling and we talked about it. She said that if I really wanted to try I should do it, but I should "listen very carefully to my body". It took almost three months before I could enter the cockpit. I had some help from others to take the kayak to the water and put it into the water. My back allowed me to paddle extremly careful for about fifteen minutes. What a luck! After that I kept on training in a slow path, all the time listening to my body and discovered a lot of ways to do things in a way that it allowed and got me forward.
Now I´m almost cured and have learned the signals that tells me not to do wrong things. I think it has helped me to be a better paddler too.
So, dont get too eager, let it take the time and take small steps. And ofcourse "listen to your body and learn your limits". When you are aware of the limits you can extend them in a slow way without so much risk.