recovery after surgery

forevermaryb
forevermaryb Posts: 108 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm curious to find out if any of you had to stop exercising to recover from surgery (or for any health reasons) and what your process was to get back into pre-surgical shape.

1 week and 2 days ago, I was in the best shape of my life. I'm 46 years old, have lost 65 pounds over the past 15 months, and for the first time in my life, I was enjoying exercise. I did Zumba, spin class, strength training and was feeling strong. 1 week and 1 day ago, I had a lapriscopic assisted hysterectomy as the last step in solving the issue of very heavy TOM which was the cause of my iron deficient anemia. I had the surgery and unfortunately, for whatever reason, my red blood cell count bottomed out and I needed a blood transfusion. So an overnight hospital stay turned into a 3 night stay and my recovery has been much slower than normal because of the anemia. I know recovery takes time and I'm trying not to be impatient (however having to ride on the electric scooter at the grocery store was embarrassing, though necessary), but I'm a bit anxious about having to start all over when I am able to exercise again (at least another 5 weeks, but it may take 3 months for my iron levels to be restored).

My stats are: 5'9" tall, 141 pounds (slightly below goal weight) and I am eating around 1680 calories (MFP setting for maintaining at sedentary, which I basically am. I have to make myself eat those calories as my appetite is not very strong either but I know my body needs fuel for recovery)

So for those of you who were in good shape, had to stop exercise for at least 6 weeks for surgery or other medical reasons, did you find that you were back to square 1 when you started again? How long did it take to get back into shape? Did you find you had the same motivation that you did before?

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Every situation is unique. Where you have to start depends entirely on where you were when you left off. How fast you can get back depends on what your conditioning is and what you're healing from. Listen to the advice that you get from your medical professionals and don't push to get back too fast. There's plenty of time
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    Yes when I had a c-section, my OB said I could exercise at 6 or 8 weeks.. I ended up opening up the incision doing 30DS.. after she said I was OK to exercise. Motivation was definitely there but I felt frustrated. I just walked for a couple of months then started exercising again. I wasn't in good shape to begin with (smoker, then pregnant and not as active lifting wise as I wanted to be) but once I got back into it, I became very fit. Best thing to do is wait it out a bit longer than your doc says then get back into it.
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
    I have very poor upper body strength from not moving my arms much for years, so I can only comment on my lower body strength and endurance.

    I ran and did squats and lunges and some dead lifting before my surgery last August. Six weeks after my surgery, I really didn't feel like I had lost my running endurance and my lower body strength bounced back quickly.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    You'll have to work your way back up, but it won't be as long or as bad as you might fear.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
    I have ridden the electric scooter in the grocery store. I had knee surgery and was 16 weeks on crutches. Do you know how sore you get under the arms when you use crutches?
    For a long time, all they let me do was pedal the exercise bike. Then, they made me skip before I could run. Yes, a grown man skipping down the street. (I went out very, very early.) I guess it is easier on your knees to skip. Seemed like it, anyway.
    But, you know what? You just get through it. You do what you can. You don't push to hard. You learn to have patience.
    Eventually, your conditioning comes back, and the ordeal is over and you hardly think about it again.
    Good luck
  • ambience13
    ambience13 Posts: 23 Member
    I had a tummy tuck complete with muscle repair, and couldn't exercise for the first two weeks. I went from running 10km regularly with 2+ hours in the gym, to nothing. I started walking, gradually building up the distance, followed by adding in a few stints of jogging. When I could jog most of the distance (10-12km) I started back at the gym (10 weeks post surgery), and have begun mountain climbing and whole day bushwalking/mountain climbing again :)
  • ka97
    ka97 Posts: 1,984 Member
    Currently 8 weeks post ankle surgery, and just finally ditched the crutches yesterday. Curious about other's experiences as well, especially runners. I was told 4 months post surgery before I could run again, and I'm so afraid I'm going to be building up from nothing again.
  • forevermaryb
    forevermaryb Posts: 108 Member
    Thanks for the responses. It is encouraging to hear that even though you had to stop, you were able to get back into exercise. It's hard to see it now; that I will get there. It's a big deal to just take care of myself, much less do anything else.

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