Playing the Piano?

I play piano for church and will be having a LSH/BSO in a few weeks.

I've had 4 Laps and was able to return to playing the piano (carefully) after about a week. How long will I not be able to play after a hyst?

Thank you!
Rhonda

Hoping to this up for you and maybe someone will have some experience with this.

Good luck and hope you have a speedy recovery!

Hi RinAK,

Because playing the piano involves abdominal muscles, not only to sit, but to actually play, ......and because playing during a church service would require you to sit upright for a long period of time, I would tell them 6-8 weeks. If you feel better and can play before then, then you can. On the other hand, if you tell them 4 weeks and don't feel like it yet, then you have already commited.
Playing piano also requires a lot of enery, which you won't have a lot of for several weeks. I tried to teach a primary Sunday School class at 4 weeks, and all I did was sit at the table and talk for 45 minutes. By the time I was through, I had to go right home. My incision was hurting and I was exhausted!!!

Hope this helps,
s,
Kay

Wow! I teach the Kindergarten thru 2nd Grade class at church. I was going to just sit and teach (and require a helper be there). Hmmm....We are at church for 3 hours on Sundays.

Maybe I should request a sub for my class as well? I won't be teaching until 12 days after surgery. I'll certainly have a lot of time on my hands to prep lessons. LOL!

Thanks!
Rhonda

Rhonda

	Quote:
Maybe I should request a sub for my class as well?

I would highly recommend it. The preparation was not the problem. It was the sitting up for so long.

12 days post -op you are still going to tire very easily. My Dr told me not to even leave the house for the first 2 weeks.

,
Kay

Thanks. Maybe during my wait I'll prep up a bunch of lessons so my sub will have an easier time. I'll need to keep busy over the next 7 weeks anyway.

Rhonda

I have to be honest here -- I could play piano the day I got home from the hospital. And I could sing. And I could play my saxophone.

However (and this is a big *however*) I did not WANT to play piano for any length of time until I was about 4-5 weeks post-op due to the fatigue I was experiencing. In other words, I just didn't feel up to playing. But it was not that I couldn't physically do it. That's what I'm concerned about with you. You probably can play fine right away, but if I were you I wouldn't count on feeling like playing for several weeks.

I don't use abdominals when I play piano. Playing involves your hands, arms, and back muscles more than anything. And you need to be able to sit up straight for periods of time, which may not be comfortable for you in the early post-op days.

I had my surgery on 9/20/04 and I went back to directing my church choir at 5 weeks post-op and I was fine. But I didn't sing a solo in church until Christmas time, nor did I perform on the sax until then. And I really didn't play much piano for 4-5 weeks or so after surgery.

Hope this helps!

Thank you. I talked to my husband last night and we are going to request that I not be counted on in Sunday School or Music Ministry for about 4 weeks post-op.

I love to do both, so it won't be easy especially when I start feeling better.