5 replies to this topic

[Chess]

Hello all

I have just recently had surgery to repair a perforated bowel. Apparently the operation went smoothly and recovery has so far been good but will take 6 weeks to be fully over it so about a month to go.

Just wondering if anyone else has been through this kind of surgery and been able to return to previous fitness levels? And if so how the rehab and gradual progression of training was managed?

I have been told to just build up easy walking and maybe start light exercise bike and resistance work over the next month and should be able to start slow jogs then. Unfortunately there is seemingly little info available about recovery in terms of sports performance from this type of operation so anyone with any information or anecdotal evidence of getting back into it would be most appreciated.

Cheers

[RLD]

Hey Chess, I dont have any suggestions to help sorry, but I'm having a hernia op in the very near future and will have about the same recovery time. So will be keeping an eye on your thread as I too want to get back original fitness. I cant even begin to imagine 6 weeks of doing absolutely nothing aarrgghh!!!!

[Chess]

Hi RLD,

Haven't quite had to put up with 6 weeks of absolutely nothing, will be at the 6 week mark Sunday and have got back to walking hilly bush trails for 1.5-2hrs and riding the stationary bike at decent intensity but no running yet.

So long as your surgery goes well I wouldn't think you'd have to be completely inactive for 6 weeks after - would definitely listen to the advice you get from your specialists though. Once I left hopsital about 1.5 weeks post-op I was advised to keep active but very sensibly - first day out was a slow 10min walk around the block - and build up slowly just depending on how you feel.

Have got some good advice from a couple of sources on returning to running, it will take a while to build back to being race fit again but all going well will be back in full flight before the year is out.

Hope your op goes well when you have it.

[bafman]

Hi Chess,

back in Feb 08, I had to go in for emergency surgery, for a perforated bowel, it was tuff, for the first couple of weeks, not being able to do much, but after about a month of doing a little bit each day, you find it getting easier to do things and I found that each day you try to do a little bit more, and in no time you, get back to old fitness level, all it takes is time a learning to manage with a bag. hope it helps.

[Chess]

Bafman,

Sorry to hear that you've had a similar experience. I don't have to worry about a bag, just had part of the small intestine chopped out and resected and have a 20cm scar straight down the stomach.

You're right about trying to do a little more at a time, had 9 weeks of no running then started on 10min jogs. Getting back to decent volume again and aerobic fitness is returning but no real intense stuff yet. Aiming to be race fit by late in the year, happy just to be running again and train according to how I feel at the moment. All the best with your recovery.

Chess

[Pedanticky]

I had lap. (keyhole) surgery to repair a couple of hernias 2 weeks ago and was told to avoid strenuous exercise for 2 weeks. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to all that inactivity but the recovery has been slower than I thought it would be, in terms of pain, ability to get around etc.

I went for my first real exercise "session" this afternoon, a 7 km walk along a familiar course. I avoided running (difficult but don't want to overdo things) and did the circuit in 1 hr 02 mins which I'm pretty happy with. I'll probably try a hill walk tomorrow morning and see how that goes providing I don't wake up with any after-effects from today. After that, maybe a run/walk programme for a while to see how that goes and possibly back running again in a couple more weeks.

I wore my Polar and it was interesting to see that my max HR reading was 220 and it is normally around 200 and I wouldn't expect to get anywhere near that on a hard walk, so that's a bit of a concern. I wet the strap before I went out so I don't think poor conductivity was the cause , ave HR for the hour was 148 which I think seems about right for the way I was feeling.

Looking forward to getting back to full fitness again (for me anyway ) and deciding on some race goals for '09.

Good luck with your post-op recovery.

Edit: oops, just noticed the date this thread started, I trust you're all fully recovered now and running well again.

Dave

Edited by Pedanticky, 01 September 2008 - 04:37 PM.