Aargh.... Sorry to hear this.
Yeah, that's what happened to my C5Z when I was on the way to the Chevy dealership last summer. No easy nor cheap way to do that, since the torque tube back to the differential and rear cradle needs to be pulled out. Probably would be a good idea to replace the pilot bearing at the same time and inspect the clutch.
Bear in mind that those rubber couplers inside the torque tube are also 11 years old. Anything in the drivetrain that is basically a wear item really should be at least inspected once you have the drivetrain out.
It's at least an all day job, and labor is going to cost you between $1,000 and $1,500 at dealership prices. If you have headers, price will be somewhat higher. The torque tube design might be great for performance, but it's a real pain in the wallet when it comes time to replace a $100 item like the slave cylinder/throwout bearing. Or even worse of an insult if the $10 pilot bearing goes out and you have to suck up that labor charge to replace it.
Yeah, I haven't quite convinced myself that I would want to do this job myself, and I've got a commercial lift in the garage to help out. Doing it on the floor of a garage with jack stands? No way! I've watched videos of guys doing it that way, but they were a lot younger and stronger than I am.
And I know what you mean about the back. This old age crap is for the birds.
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