How much can I Excercise Post-Op?

Hi! I am scheduled for my Hyst on January 25th. I am in great physical health as well as mental :-) and I am a dedicated work-out girl! One of my main concerns about Post-op is when I can resume my regular work-out schedule. I work out with weights, I do Yoga and I do Spinning/cycle classes too. I'm having a LAVH. What type of recovery time am I looking at and when can I start excercising, even if it's just a little bit of excercie, preferably with weights. :-)

I had a different surgery to your planned one but, if you knew just how many internal stitches you'll have, you wouldn't want to even think of touching 'weights' for a good while!

Seriously, this is major surgery and you must get the all-clear from your doctor before you even think of working out. At the end of the day, recovery time, compared with the rest of your life, is a short one!

A rough idea of timing is 6-8 weeks, but that is very approximate ... my surgeon wasn't happy about sit-ups at 3 months, but my surgery was different.

Your initial weeks/months of recovery are vital ... you don't want to be doing anything that may cause complications. Just be patient, post-op, and you'll have no regrets.

Best wishes for your surgery.

Hey Happyhour,

One thing you can do while your are waiting to do your "real" exercise program again is to walk. You will be expected to get up and walk in the hosp., and you can continue that at home, within whatever limits your doc gives you. If you are a regular workout girl, you will have to really scale back your expectations at first. Just put on your robe and slippers and make a couple of slow laps of your hallway. Doing this several times a day, very slowly, will help your body heal, promote your bowel function, and also help you sleep better at night.

As you become stronger, add a few minutes to each "walk". When that becomes easier, move outside to your driveway or sidewalk, and then on to your street. Pay attention to your body, and don't overextend yourself. In between the walking, rest, rest, rest.

No weights, no spinning, etc., until you have been cleared by your doc. Dittos on what "Poodle" said - this is major surgery and you truly do need to allow time for your body to heal.

Hi Happy Hour,
Since you are working out before surgery, it will help with your recovery. However, just to set some expectations, "working out" post-op will be very modified. You will start with slow walking, and lots of short distances for the first couple of weeks. Your body will need to put all it's energy into healing. Yes, it will be important to move, but the usual routine will need to wait. Please talk with your doctor extensively about your normal excercise routine, and what will be allowed by when in your case.

The post-op checkpoints are great to read for a view of what is generally allowed and when.
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/mycheckpoint.php
The weeks 5-6 checkpoints are the first reference of returning to excercise. We are on lifting restrictions so we don't get adhesions (scar tissue) or hernias. Please, please don't try to overdo things after surgery. We get one chance to heal without complications. Listen to your body - it will tell you what it needs and will tell you when you overdo.

I'm a cardio and yoga gal too, so I know how you're feeling about excercise. I'm in week 5 now, and am back to brisk walks outside or on the treadmill and just starting some very gentle yoga poses. No power moves, tummy or inversions yet!

Hi Bee,

I'm 40, had abdominal surgery to remove uterus for large fibroid, left cervix and ovaries. I'm currently 3 1/2 weeks out and wondering how far did you walk and how far are you walking now. I too am an exercise lover (love to ride my bike 20 mi, 3-4/week when the weather allows). And usually walk 5 min as many days as i can in the off season of cycling. I know how important it is not to rush the recovery as I had a c-section 12 years ago and my uterus burst on first slice (3/4 of the way around--so I had lots of stitches then too). Of course back then, you have to stay home to take care of the kiddies, but now, I have nothing holding me back but my recovery. I just wanted an idea of what approximately someone else with similar attributes does for a walk.

thanks!
ellie

Hi Ellie,
Yes! We do have a lot of similar attributes. At 3 1/2 weeks, I just started s-l-o-w-l-y walking 6-8 blocks outside, and at 5-6 "lap" sessions around the house. Each house lap-set added up to about 100 yards of distance, per doctors orders The first time I went the longer distance, it felt like it was a bit too long. The next day, I did the same distance, and I felt fine. I would have gone a shorter distace if I was as tired. I also wore my tummy binder when walking to support my core. DH went with me those first times out to make sure I'd be OK. Don't be surprised if you need extra naps or sleep longer at night. And listen to your body. If you're really tired, pull back a bit. At the end of week 3, I was on the treadmill for the first time - at a whopping 1.9 mph for 20 minutes. Believe me, that was fast enough - I felt pulling if I went any faster, so I slowed down to what felt good. Stay at the same speed and duration until it becomes easy. Then, bump up the speed before adding more time.

For muscle excercises, the checkpoints say it's OK to lie down and squeeze our buttocks. That helps with lower back strength and doesn't strain our abs. I think it's kept lower back pain away for me (that and no more stinkin' fibroid pressing on my tailbone!)

I'm at 5 1/2 weeks now and feel really good with brisk walks outside or on the treadmill. We had a warm winter spell, so I didn't have to worry about ice last week. Today, we're below zero, so I'll do more treadmill walking. I'll probably do 30 minutes at 3-3.5 mph with some incline. I keep my heart rate in the lower end of the cardio zone, which seems to help my stamina.

Remember, at 3+ weeks, you're just starting to feel perky again, so it's important to still rest a lot. Walk when it feels good, but rest when you're tired. If you're still tired the next day, just back off a bit. Your body will let you know when it wants more.

Please post with what's working for you. It's nice to hear from some princesses who are in a similar place.

Note to Princesses, who aren't walking far yet - please don't worry about it! We all heal differently and at our own pace. I count myself very lucky to feel so good walking a fair amount.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by ellie6 Hi Bee, I'm 40, had abdominal surgery to remove uterus for large fibroid, left cervix and ovaries. I'm currently 3 1/2 weeks out and wondering how far did you walk and how far are you walking now. I too am an exercise lover (love to ride my bike 20 mi, 3-4/week when the weather allows). And usually walk 5 min as many days as i can in the off season of cycling. I know how important it is not to rush the recovery as I had a c-section 12 years ago and my uterus burst on first slice (3/4 of the way around--so I had lots of stitches then too). Of course back then, you have to stay home to take care of the kiddies, but now, I have nothing holding me back but my recovery. I just wanted an idea of what approximately someone else with similar attributes does for a walk. thanks! ellie

You are awesome!!! Thanks so much for the details, it's the type of information I was really looking for.


I went walking and felt exactly what you describe as the pulling --you basically can't do anything but slow down when you feel that, so I've been slowing down (I'm not really going fast) to see if that helps and if it doesn't, I turn around and go home. Didn't know about the lying down and squeezing buttocks--thanks, I will definitely try that as it isolates the glutes without using the core! God knows, I'm getting flabby back there from all this sitting around!


Thanks a bunch, send more tips at you uncover them. You'll be a great mentor for me in this process!

Best to you in your recovery my friend,
Ellie

You're welcome! It's pretty cool to share some advice that fits after benefitting so much from others.

Enjoy the day! B&B

Thanks to all of you who replied back so quickly! All of your suggestions will be extremely helpful. I realize it's a major surgery and I am totally prepared for taking things slow, but I needed some guidance from all of you as to "how slow." :-) I am in the process of preparing my body for the Hyst procedure. I picked up a wonderful book which was suggested by another Princess, called The Rapid Recovery Handbook. It's an awesome guide. I am learning things about vitamins that I never knew before. It's something I suggest everyone who is facing any type of surgery to read. I will keep ya'll posted Post-Op to see if the Guide actually helped me. :-)

Good idea with the recovery book! Just remember to review all vitamins with your surgeon ahead of time. Some can interfere with bleeding, recovery etc (although it would be surprising to find the no-no's in a book about recovery).