Wishing you the best on a healthy recovery! It seems to be the hardest thing about doing any extensive work on a tree is waiting … perhaps patiently for those signs that everything’s gonna be aright.
Ryan Neil mentioned a lag of about 14 days after root work before the roots respond with new growth. In our location I’ve been thinking more on the line of 4-6 weeks after extensive rootwork for visible signs of healthiness. For branch work it seems more like 2-4 weeks.
From observations of azalea’s response I think this can happen in a number of ways, pushing multiple leaves at the ends of branches, back budding down a trimmed branch or a progressive back budding up the trunk to the branches. All seem to me to be indicators the wait is over.
Cheers
DSD sends