Activity Opinions

Peter, I have seen men say they did 18 holes of golf at 3 1/2 weeks; however, hockey seems a lot more risky.  To get answers, you might want to provide details on your lab results.  Your age is also imp0ortant.  Good luck!

Aimzee

I'm not a Dr. but I would think this would be risky at best! As White Bird said falling is the issue to be concerned with.

Cajun Jeff

bad idea.  let your body heal fully and don't put yourself at risk for permanent incontinence or ED.  i have a friend you just had his second hernia sugery and he was in the gym squatting a little earlier than his doctor recomnmended.  i listened to his denial for about five minutes and i thought "it's only a matter of time before surgery #3" .

ed

 

It is very difficult not to do what you love, but the more time that you take to heal hopefully the less troubles on down the road. I wouldnt even play air hockey at this point. I am too competitive and would likely overdo it.
Michael

Got an email back from my doc today and I gotta say I was a little surprised.  She wrote, "If you feel well, you have no restrictions at that point".  Again, this is just over 4 weeks post op.

Now let me also mention that this is from a well respected surgeon with over 1200 DaVincis in a major Boston hospital.  Not some back-water clinic.

I guess I've got to give it more thought......

  Cepas,   Good news - you had a successful surgery and you feel great!   Bad news, if you rush the recovery and do some damage, you're in misery and your recovery is delayed.   But remember this was major surgery, it taint' worth the risk   You have too much at stake.   Wishing the best,  

Hey Cepas,

I yanked my stitches hiking ... 6 months after DaVinci and had to have an incisional hernia repar.  Thats no fun. 

I think your surgeon has her head ... anyhow, I think you should really reconsider any activity that puts a lot of stress on the incisions.  You just don't want to risk the chance of having to go through a repair ... its another six months shot in the butt.

I felt no pain at 4 weeks and a day and have done what I want since without problem...yet. tho bear in mind that medical people make the worst patients.

My URO gave me a full release to do anything at 3 weeks, including lifting my heavy 65 lb water machines. However I found that I had no energy to lift those machines at that time and found that I was worn out every day by noon. (I think my URO knew that would happen with his release). On the 4th week I went to the lake house of a friend and was so worn out I needed assitance getting out of the water and up the ladder at the dock. That was  my first totally dry day too.

IMO I think the risk of getting hit in the gut or falling down is not worth taking and there will be plenty of hockey games down the road. Get totally healed first and come to the GFMPH in Baton Rouge in April.

Terry

You have a series of nice clean stab wounds and a bigger cut all the way through your abdominal wall. It's kind of a major deal to heal up properly.

Those are healing. They feel fine. They are not yet healed. Tearing them puts you back to square zero or worse.

Give it time, once. Much shorter (and likely a better long-term outcome) than having to wait for new damage (not so surgically precise, either) to heal.

Talk to your doctor about activities that are safe in your present condition, and do them as much as you feel able. I would doubt that hockey, with the potential for various problems, is a good idea for this year. You fall, or somebody gets overly excited and checks you (yes, I see it's supposed to be non-contact, and I also know some folks "forget"), or you wind your gut muscles up to make that big slap-shot, and <ping> you might wish you hadn't.

I'm 3 months out and tweaked something to the extent that I felt it under the big incision two days ago. As it happens, I was in for my followup yesterday and it's nothing to the extent that the surgeon is feeling it or is concerned about it, but I certainly felt something. That's 6 weeks after my lifting restriction was removed, though I have self-imposed a "leave the anvils 'til summer" rule (75, 102 & 142 lbs, I think). I was putting a 30 lb computer on a shelf - I'd moved it and two of its friends 4 times in the preceding week, as well as them and several more back at 6 weeks - all without incident, but somehow I must have moved just wrong that time. I more usually worry about protecting my back, not my front, when lifting. Despite my surgeon's lack of concern with whatever I actually did, I'm certainly going to try to me more careful for a while longer. I have anvils that will need to be moved again, and I need to be able to move them.

Thanks guys, I read you loud and clear.  Although its gonna stink to sit this one out I think it probably is the best thing to do.  It was for a father/son hockey game and these kids play for a high school JV team so they're freshmen, sophomores and juniors.  Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have the opportunity again but I don't want to turn back the clock on my healing progress.  I feel too good at this stage to have a set back.

Same thing happened to me about 10 years back.  I violently broke my leg (playing hockey of course) when I lost an edge and slammed into the boards.  I had a full tib/fib fracture with my foot twisted in the other direction (not pretty).  The doc said my fibula exploded int 4 pieces.  Anyway, I had surgery with a metal rod inserted in my tibia.  I was 6 weeks into the healing and was getting around with a walking cast when I slipped on some ice in parking lot and felt a pop followed by pain.  Apparently, I had recracked to break.  Not bad, but enough to put me back on crutches for 4 more weeks (pretty depressing).

Setbacks are not fun.  Looks like I'll be watching from the bench.

Thanks again guys!

Peter