Surgery update:
If you found this post because you are looking for information regarding recovery time for a triathlete after surgery, you are going to want to read my previous posts:
How surgery went
The first 24 hours
The first 48 hours
It's now been 9 days since surgery. I attribute my crazy fast recovery to several factors:
1.) My Coach had me in exceptional shape prior to surgery.
2.) My surgeon (Dr. Beckley at Alpine Surgery in Boulder) told me that because I was in great shape, that I would recover fast. In addition to this, I did exactly what he said.
3.) My nutritionist gave me pre-surgery & post-surgery advice.
All which is laid out in the previous posts.
At one week, I was able to start riding and running again. (I did this yesterday).
I rode on the trainer and did a very easy spin. I started with an easy warm up. By the end of the 35 minutes, I was in zone 2. I was upright for the first 10 minutes. (Unsure of how aero would feel). The next 5 minutes, I put my hands on the elbow pads. After that, I was aero for the remainder of the time.
Later in the day, I was really excited to see how running would feel. I ran 25 minutes on the treadmill at 2% incline. Well, I didn't run the entire time. I walked a 10 minute warm up then did intervals of :30, 1:00, 1:30, 1:00, 1:00 each separated by 2:00 of walking. I covered 1.5 miles.
Besides this, I have done a number of strength workouts (all unweighted). Depending on the workout, I will skip a day between. It really depended on what else I did that day.
The TIRED: Don't be surprised if you feel unusually tired during the day. Like clockwork, I was getting tired around 3pm. I wasn't sleepy. I was tired. I would lay down on the couch for about 30-40 minutes. I felt better after it. Pay attention to how you feel and honor those feelings. It's very normal to feel tired a week after surgery. (BTW: Yesterday, day 8, was the first day that I didn't have any of the Tired. I went through my day as normal).
ICE: For awhile, I looked like I had a softball in my abdomen. I decided that after any workouts (walking, strength training, anything) that I would ice it. Nine days later, and my bruising is going away. I'm not nearly as swollen as I was. I don't have any discomfort around the area....meaning that I can put pressure on it without pain. In an effort to be as honest as I can, I don't know if the slight swollen-ness that exists is because my period is getting ready to start. I normally get bloated and big down there. Because I have other factors that I'm dealing with, it's a little tough to call.
Incision site: The incision site doesn't even bother me anymore. It can get irritated if something rubs up against it. So, I just wear my pants lower than normal. I roll down the top of my pants, so it doesn't irritate the incision. The incision now looks more like a scab. If you've ever cut yourself, you know how it feels to have something rub up against it. It doesn't hurt. It simply gets irritated.
My follow up exam is next Wed. Based on how things are going, I have no reason to think that my doctor won't release me to start swimming again and to resume training.
At that time, I'll also post how my workouts are progressing.
