exercise after surgery

I'm about to go into surgery as so many know and I would like to know what type of regiment of physical activity would folks in here recomend.  I'm 48 in pretty good physical shape and I think it would do me good to have something to focus on afterwards.  Will I be able to bowl, lift weights, go through martial arts moves or should I limit my activity to walking.  Any feedback would be great

Alex

Hi Aztec:  Here's my two cents. Walk, walk walk, stretch a little, but give yourself four to six weeks before you start trying to lift heavy weights or, of all things, throw a bowling ball.  After surgery, you will have internal sutures  reconnecting your urethra and taking time to heal.  Strenuous activities, like karate moves or bowling could give you some problems in that area that you won't want to deal with. Ask your doctor , but I say wait a  good long while before attempting the activities you're talking about . Go see a few movies.  Read.  Do some crosswords -- whatever you can think of that keeps your mind engaged.  But go easy with the physical stuff - no matter what shape you're in.  Heavy exercise is not going to help you right after surgery.  Again, that's just my opinion. Best to ya!

Hi Aztec,
Here's what my doc told me. Don't lift anything over 5 lbs for 3 months. Walk 1 mile a day with the catheter in, and when the cath comes out, walk 3 miles a day. Before the cath comes out, and when you are not walking, keep your feet up -which means when you are at the computer, put your legs up and put the keyboard on your lap.

My uro team hounded me about keeping my legs up and keeping my TED hose on until I went back to the doctor to get the cath out. I forget which book, Scardino's or Walsh's, but one says the most prevalent cause of death after prostate surgery is pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot traveling from the leg veins to the lung. This will stop your clock real fast, as I saw it do to my grandmother.

The heck of it is that surgery and cancer can both make one hyperclottable; therefore, the emphasis on TED hose and keeping your legs up, but also walking to keep venous return flowing well from the legs and not pooling down there so clots can't form. So, what happened to me? I got a big clot in my arm, because they didn't tell me to walk on my hands.

So, unless you use a 5 lb bowling ball, bowling is out. Walking is good, and it doesn't seem like you can get too much of it. BUT AGAIN, ASK YOUR DOCTOR for his advice about your limitations.
dj

Alex,
Sorry, Dude. Didn't mean to scare or worry you. Please don't stress about it, but forwarned is fore-armed. They should tell you what to look for, and they told me one's legs would ache before one gets into trouble and to be sure and see them if I start to feel that way.

You've got to take care of yourself after this, because, though robotic surgery is minimally traumatic, it is major surgery. All will be well in due time. Get your doctor's advice, ask about the legs-up thing with him/her, and follow his/her advice. You will do fine, because you are careful.
dj

Well it looks like everyone has a different take on when to increase outside physical activity.I am assuming you are doing Da Vinci Surgery.

DJhouston says you should walk a mile a day with the catheter "IN".  I think that might be too much too soon.  I think He had his catheter in for four weeks, the usual catheter time is about 7 days.  so the first week after surgery you should really just do cautious walks around the neighborhood. After your catheter is out increase your exercise slowly to a comfortable level.  The area to protect is your abdominal muscles.  So don't lift heavy things (more than a few pounds) and don't do sit ups.(don't help your wife vacuum the house..lol) Do walk and climb stairs.

At about week three or four, if you are an active person, you are going to want to test yourself. Don't do it.  You have nothing to prove.  If you were a marathon runner before, you will want to begin to run.  (read other posts),  If you were a weight lifter before it will be harder, but protect yourself for at least 6 to 8 weeks post surgery.

If you were sedentary an/or overweight before, start slow...but this is a great time to start getting yourself in shape.

Many guys go back to work 3 or 4 weeks after surgery.  I know it was glad to have more time off.  For many the biggest problem going back to work is incontinence.

I play a lot of golf and my urologist said NO golf until after the 6th week post surgery.  I am back to golf full time now 3 or 4 rounds a week.  No major problems, except a bit of leaking. I am doing yardwork and stuff but I still try not to lift anything too heavy because of many reports of post surgery hernias. I am 11 weeks post surgery and go next week for my 1st post surgery PSA test. (every doctor is different).

My advice ...stay active, but don't strain or overtax yourself.

Alex, Kurt was up walking within 5 hours of his surgery. We started with 1 lap around our small hospital and then 2 and so on. He ws released the next afternoon and we took a 20 min slow walk around the hotel. When we got home, he limited is walks to 20 to 30 minutes at a time, a couple times per day. That was with the cath. When it came out, he continued the same walking path, just increased the pace a little.

He was limited to no lifting over 10 pound for 3 weeks post surgery and is just now slowing increasing this. Don't stress too much about the blood clots. Kurt had Air pumps around his legs in the hospital, but as soon as he was getting up more and more, they took them off. They said that as long as you are up, walking around, your blood is circulating enough to keep blood from clotting.

I think that number one rule of thumb is no matter how good you feel, day 1 or 2 or week 1 or 2, keep reminding yourself that you JUST had major surgery. So Take It Easy!!! That has been the hardest part for Kurt.

Good Luck to you! We will be thinking and praying for you and your family. Courtney

just don't rush things.  Listen to your Dr.  Your body may feel fine but remember your insides have been altered quite a bit.  I never realized how much stitching there was inside untill I say is on a bladderscan!

  Good Luck,

  KW