In reply to Tyler:
yes, your gait would change a bit , probably not noticeable when walking but more pronounced when running, recovery times are 3 months to be fair, 6 months to be good (starting to jog etc) and 1 year plus you will not notice it much. At 6 months the fusion should be good and strong. At 1 year your running will be a lot better. You will have to slowly build things up. Keep cardio by cycling, swim, gym, work quads, gluts and gastrocs in the gym. Because the big toe will be ridged the joints in the foot above it in the kinetic chain ( in the foot) will loosen up a bit. Initially maybe use stiffer shoes to give things support before going into a very soft shoe. There is a lot of foot strengthening and balance work you can do using balance beams , different textured surfaces to stand on and various foot workouts. all will be useful. There is no avoiding an initial slowish recovery phase but... your pain will be gone...just build exercise up carefully and everything will be ok. Yes, toe push off will be a bit different and a slight limp could spark of back pain and other twinges but if you keep core and glutes strong, running could be fine. Long distances would be where things might get achy.