Lifting, exercise, what is too much, why?

Today had record highs for this area (Chicago) so I came home, took out the recumbent bicycle (think lawn chair on wheels) and did 15 very easy miles. I know this is a little early for me but it brings up the question of how much exercise can you do "early"? My surgery was 1/22. The doc said don't lift over 5lbs. So what could happen if you lift too much? What are the risks if you try to recuperate too fast?

My surgeon almost smacked me when I asked if I could mow the grass while still having the catheter in....He said once the cath was out I could go back to normal duties...

But as Tony said: "Don't over do it."

Gee, sounds like we got some non-compliant patients here. My dr/surgeon stressed the 5 lbs limit, in my case, for a full 6 weeks. He said while the large incision heals up fast (I had open RP), and it did, there was a lot of delicate internal repair and micro stiching on the inside, that until it does heal properly, can come apart in various ways. I wasn't even allowed to drive for a full month plus until the original catheter was taken out.

Usually your body will tell you when you done enough, but to play on the side of safety, I followed every doctor's order to the letter of the law after surgery. Already been through enough hell, didn't want to do something stupid or overboard that would either hurt me or give me a major setback in my recovery.

So, if you do something against medical advice, just sign that little release paper, and do as you please and then you are on your own if something goes wrong.

Sounds harsh, don't mean it that way, but I hear all these non-compliant stories almost daily from my wife/nurse. As she says, people do have the right not to listen, the right to hurt and even kill themselves.

It's not a question of the macho/athletic man vs the couch potato/wimp, this is about proper healing from what some call one of the great major surgeries. Something to think about.

David in SC

As a few of the other posters have mentioned, I believe hernia is a big risk in addition to tearing the stitches. I think a stationary bike is ok, as long as you are ok, but don't be like my dad and blow leaves. I could have strangled him. :)

Yeah, hernia is an issue. We had one wild man at my office who started back too soon and too hard and experienced a hernia. I understand going through that is more painful than the robotic RP process. Then I think the guy tried to charge right through his hernia recovery period also. Good luck with that.

Generally you need to worry about straining in your lower abdominal area. That's why lifting is such an issue. If you can exercise without straining that area too much, then you might be OK. But your stomach muscles come into play a lot with just about everything you do so - as Tobmeister says - better to be safe than sorry.

kcragman

Dr Patel told me to lift no more than 15 lbs for 6 weeks and walk a lot. I'm doing what I'm told. No macho here.

Sam

I was thinking about something my dr said Monday when we met. He said at almost 3 months out from open surgery, I really can't hurt anything inside, but he said there were lots of adhesions that can come loose and cause bad pain if I over do it. Even at 3 months out, I feel my lifting ability and upper body strength is perhaps 50 -60 % as pre-surgery, hard to be subjective about it really. The dr mostly said that your body will let you know if it's too much with activity, walking, lifting, exercise, and should listen to the early signals that you are pushing it. So on those basic instructions, I am continuing to heal and improve. My wife says she can really tell a big difference just in the past 2 weeks. Hope it continues that way.

I would say KW just gave some good general advice about healing and not over doing it.