2 days post hysterectomy: How Much Walking?

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Originally Posted by mtavistar Yes, maybe I gave the impression of greater ambition than I have . I'm going to check in with him Monday and I'll talk with him more about it then. I walked about 4-5 hours during my 30 hours in the hospital. I walked about .75 miles earlier today...it was probably too much but not because of the distance. Rather, the hills in the route required a lot of rest. I am going to do about another 10-15 minutes on flat ground this evening, because I am not really hurting and it was very helpful in clearing out my lungs and getting my bowels moving more.

Yes, I thought of that when I read your other post about having fluid in your lungs - walking will help clear that out.

I live in an extremely hilly city. My first two weeks after surgery I went 'round and 'round and 'round my own neighbourhood. My body didn't feel ready to attempt hills until my third week after surgery. But by the end of my fourth week, I was walking all over the place for hours at a time! :-)

So, I am a marathoner. And I fully intended to be walking a ton through all of my recovery. My doctor was okay with me doing easy walking from the beginning (she knows that I am a runner) but told me to listen to my body. I have been more fatigued than I thought I would be, so I haven't walked as much as I would like, but I did get a couple one mile walks so far each week (I am two weeks out) and a ton of walks around the inside of my house. Everyone's body and recovery is different. If you are used to walking pre surgery, and feel good doing it post surgery, go for it. But give yourself permission to back off too. It's a little frustrating for me, but I will be back to putting in the big miles before I know it. Good luck to you!

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Originally Posted by mollybear I would follow your surgeons advice. Even though you've had previous abdominal surgeries, you have not had a hysterectomy. A hysterectomy is major surgery, regardless of the method, there is a lot of internal work performed and you don't want to jeaporidize your recovery. The vaginal cuff is very vulnerable while it heals. You can do no harm by under doing it, but you can do a great deal of harm overdoing it. I would advise erring on the side of caution. Short frequent walks to the bathroom or kitchen are fine for the first week or two. Even walking outside to the patio or deck is fine. After that you can make longer trips as you feel better, keeping in mind you don't want to put yourself in a position where you could fall. If you have to do stairs--hold on the hand rail, stay away from unpaved paths or trails. Always keep in mind your are healing and not training for a marathon! They'll be plenty of time afterwards to make up the exercise. Your body needs to put the energy into healing not overdoing it. If you over do it you'll know as the swelling and pain will increase. My best advise is to just "chill" for a week or two, I know a lot of women are anxious to get back to their lives right away, but many have paid a high price for being imprudent. In the grand scheme of things in terms of your life, 6 weeks is but a drop in the bucket and when have you ever, as a woman, been given the permission to relax??? Take full advantage of it.

I think your response was so very well said..... absolutely loved it

I am 3 and a half weeks past my Da Vinci surgery. I'm almost 69 and in moderate shape. I started walking laps in the hospital the first evening of my surgery. I also had bronchitis which they didn't discover until later the next day.

I've been walking pretty regularly fairly early, quite slowly maybe but walking .50 miles or more. The first walk I took I rested at around 1/8 a mile and then walked back. The next was a .50 walk followed by an additional few blocks a little later. I did a dog dancing exhibition a week and one half after the surgery (and then slept for a zillion hours).

I started back to pilates (doing gentle stuff) two weeks after the surgery. My body seems to be healing fine though I'm still tired. I don't pick up anything heavy at all.

I've been canning food (blood orange marmalade) and have been driving since the day after I got home. I took my last pain medication the night I got home. I definitely have been going out and meeting friends for coffee.

I'm looking forward to not being quite so tired. I haven't started back to yoga yet as I think the stretching would be too much.