Hey campers~
Well its been 6 hours since hernia surgery and Mr Sprout is home and “okay”.
Feels like someone stabbed me with a screwdriver and left it there.
Can’t move on and off the bed without help…then again it has only been 6 hours since surgery.
But the wonderful Misses is taking good care of me.
Even set the laptop up.
This is one of the best sites on the web for information for hardcore athletes. I figured I could add to this thread as I healed up, progressed and eventually got back to training. My hope is that this will give others requiring abdominal surgery down the road a helping hand.
Okay the drugs are kicking in again so I’m off to lala land
Thanks Terry.
S-Day +1
Well, 22 hours have gone by and whoa am I sore. Demeral is okay, takes the edge off the pain but really just makes me sleepy.
Slept like crap last night. Don’t sleep on my back usually but was the only way I could lay down, with a lot of help from the Misses. Hope to get some rest today.
Walking ‘alright’. Man do you ever learn how much your body needs good abs for stabilization! Slow steps baby!
Still need to get that 1st bm since before the surgery. then again I have to get my food in take back up, something other than Carnation and protein shakes.
Time for some brakfast and more demeral.
Thank you kind sir.
S-day +4
Only on Ibuprofen now, thank God.
The cloudy drunk demeral haze was annoying and really f’ed up my body’s ability to use the head, the bathroom that is, sorry TMI but somebody should tell you this before it happens.
Staples look nasty as heck but RN wife says it all looks good to her…okay.
Doing alright today, back sore from supporting body without help from the abs and sitting on my arse. I wrapped the torso with an ACE bandage today to help with support. Only ‘hurts’ when I cough, sneeze, laugh or make sudden movements…you know every day stuff. I am looking at getting to the office on Wednesday.
Snowbound anyways, poor Misses had to dig her own car out. I felt bad. But I can barely pick up a gallon of milk without cringing in pain.
The clock keeps ticking but I’m being patient.
Hope to get timeline from Doc on Thursday.
S-day + 7
Staples out, not that bad. Just ached a bit once I got home.
They then stuck some surgical glue and steril strips over it to give it some strength while the staple areas healed.
Said it was a really rare hernia, being that it came through the left rectus about 3" above my navel line. Usually, the few upper abdominal hernias seen in most athletic men occur right at the linea alba, the tendon that connects the two sides of the rectus muscle. This sucker had to get through two fascia walls as well as the rectus muscle itself. Once again I turn up with another injury anomoly for the medical books.
Doc said 3 more weeks of SUPER EASY physical activity.
Then to gradually move back into my post examination, presurgery routine.
So on the 20th of February I can get back into the gym and start doing seated extremity lifts: arms and legs.
Until then nothing that makes me use my core for stability in order to lift it or (as he put it) makes me go “ugh!”…could make a hefty BM kinda dangerous…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…ouch I think I pullled something.
S-Day+9…maybe I should start a new thread, call it “Post Staple Removal”…nah.
Okay so I have to take it easy for three weeks and no weights but he didn’t tell me to roll over and die.
So I figure, what can I do while I wait till February 20th?
Here’s the short list so far, after speaking with my surgeon:
1~Standing calf raises for max reps, couple times a day.
2~Hand gripper work for max reps, couple times a day.
3~CARDIO, might as well spend the next three weeks cutting the extra fat off the frame. Biking,30 minutes in morning and 30 minutes at night.
4~Walking lunges and free squats without weights at home, strap on the ab wrap and weight belt to alleviate any stress to ab muscles while doing these.
Considering the weird nature of my hernia he said to stay away from chins and pushups for a few more weeks.
Sound like it’s coming along. Great ideas on the cardio and such. Might as well use your the time for something.
One thought I had was the possibility of some direct arm work. Something like preacher curls. This way the arm is resting on something and there is little to no tension on your trunk. Just a thought.
Just thought I’d add in my info since I just had the same thing…at the 2 week checkup the doc told me I could do cardio etc but nothing too high intensity, at 4 weeks I could start lifting again slowly and 6 weeks I could do whatever the hell I want. Been doing those hand grippers myself in the meantime. I’ve actually still got those sterile strips on me since when they pulled off the first set at 2 weeks I still had a hole that hadn’t fully healed. Anyway, good luck on your recovery
Thanks Phil and Jason for the input.
I thought about the preacher curls Phil and even tried it…but the high nature of the hernia causes the preacher pad at my gym to jab right into the incision area. Feels like someone is jamming a screwdriver into my gut so those are out. If I had an inguinal (spelling?) hernia that would probably work. I do appreciate the thought though so keep 'em coming.
I’ve got three weeks to try to fend off getting stir crazy at home.
