David,
Glad to hear you have a positive attitude. As I said, that is half the battle. Not say you won't whipsaw around a bit emotionally, but being generally positive makes things go better.
Generally, one is in the hospital for 5-7 days. As for myself, I was in for 12 days. I had a kink in my intestines (that wasn't' figured out for over a year) and my intestines didn't wake up properly. I probably didn't walk enough either. If you look back at my posts, I am always harping about walking from the very first day. Also, chewing gum.
Where do you live? It is important to get to the best surgeon who specializes in bladder cancer. We can likely point you to a place. Top teaching hospitals are typically best.
As for recovery, I was working from home the first week I got out. My work is something that I can do with a laptop and phone though. I did a couple/few hours a day and then build up. I still had the catheter in (you will too) and my wife (nurse) did the flushing part for me.
I was able to fly again (typically how I get to clients-I'm a business consultant) in two months. The concern was blood clots with flying and hernia from lifting my carry on bag.
In the end, I wound up getting surgery again to fix my kinked intestine about a year and half or so after my original surgery. I also needed a couple more surgeries to repair multiple hernias around my incision. The hernia stuff was my own stupidity with my own carry on (generally overdoing things with moving furniture and lifting things) and I just can't help but help people struggling with their carry on bags on planes.
Some of the folks on here were out of the hospital in four or five days.
I was scuba diving again around a year after the surgery and skiing two years after. Others were faster but I was generally not in good shape to start with.
They say that FULL recovery takes about six months. I'd say I think I felt fully recovered after about four months. Your mileage may vary.
Hopefully a few of the others will jump in with their experience.
Good luck!
Mike