Recent surgery

[Lissa.Anne]

Hello Everyone,

Recently, November 1st, I had surgery to remove a portion of my terminal ileum because I had a complete blockage.

I had surgery before about 16 years ago when I was quite young and dont really remember much about it and the recovery period.

I just had a couple questions if anyone has any advice then it would be very much appreciated.

I was curious how long after surgery people tend to start feeling normal and like them selves again? I really just want to get back to my life start work again (I work at starbucks so its a lot of running around). When did other people return to work?

I also used to be a very active person but this passed year with my crohn's disease acting up its been very hard. How long after surgery do people tend to start having more of a regular fitness routine again? Even just being able to lift grocery bags oe carry the laundry down stairs?

Everyone keeps telling me not to push it and relax but I feel like I'm finally heading in a positive direction and that I want to get my life back.

Any post surgery advice at all would be more then appreciated.

Thank you

 

[nogutsnoglory]

This will vary person to person. Some people take weeks to truly feel back to normal but most people can resume work in 6-8 weeks after this type of surgery. As for fitness I was advised not to lift anything over 10 pounds for 12 weeks. Others may have different experiences and orders from their surgeons.

Definitely take it easy and allow your body to heal from this trauma. Feel good!

 

[UnXmas]

It seems that the standard timeline given for most major or fairly major surgeries is 6 - 8 weeks.

I had surgery nearly 5 weeks ago. The surgery wasn't supposed to be that major, but I had some serious complications which meant my recovery has been much slower than I expected. At this point I do feel human again. My pain is minimal, I no longer feel nauseous. However, I'm still too weak to do anything active. After abdominal surgery, you shouldn't do any bending or lifting for at least 8 weeks.

Your individual condition plays a big role in your recovery too though. I know that a big part of the reason I'm still too weak to be active is because I was very underweight and unfit prior to the surgery.

You may well be back to your normal activity levels within 8 weeks, but build up your levels of activity gradually. And I would stress that even though you may feel fine before this time, don't bend or lift!

And of course there can always be complications that delay recovery. If you find your strength and stamina are not improving, check with a doctor to make sure nothing's wrong. Recovering can be a slow process, but even if it's slow you shouldn't feel like you're going backwards. The times where I've been feeling better but then start feeling worse again have been times when I've had complications - once an infection and another time a problem with the motility of my digestive tract.

How are you feeling at the moment?

 

[Lissa.Anne]

Thank you both so much for the reply.

I actually go see my surgeon tomorrow for my 4 week follow up. I am definitely feeling better. I think its just frustrating because I was trying so hard before the surgery to keep my school and work life normal (well as normal as I could) and now I'm feeling things are actually getting better as opposed to worse or staying the same so I want to start having a life again.

UnXmas - I hope your doing better from your surgery and that things are looking up for you

Thank you again for the advice!

 

[Axelfl3333]

Lisa luckily I haven,t req,d surgery for crohns but annoyingly I,ve had loads of orthopedic procedures,at 4weeks post op your at the stage where you feel better(good)but don,t be to keen to get back to work yet ,you haven,t finished healing yet and try to remember employers don,t care if you come back to soon and lay the groundwork for something long term I'll health.patience.good luck