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Post-Op Recovery: What to Expect
I have something to say since I went through IH surgery in PA with Dr. Goodyear and stayed in the hotel for 4 days. BTW I flew from KY to PA and back with family (2 kids and wife). Here we go.
I posted “POST SURGERY THOUGHTS” on this board which Dr. Towfigh put on top of the discussions (thanks to her). Do read it. You will NOT become a superman within 6 months – no, there is superman only in cartoons and movies.
1. I returned to work after 2 weeks and yes I am in desk job – software development. BUT I got up every one hour and walked around. It was a weak and slow walk but no matter GET UP EVERY ONE HOUR and walk around – that’s what Dr. Goodyear told me. The day after surgery onwards, the advice given to me was “Keep walking” and I kept walking till legs ached. So I went to work in 2 weeks BUT my advice is to wait 3 WEEKS. So you feel much better. But up to 6-8 weeks, depending on what Dr. Ramshaw says you should keep walking so the mesh will jell better with your tissue.
2. for 30 minute gentle yoga you will need to wait 6 weeks and depending on how good the tissue heals. Surgical cut and tissue heal differently in each person. It can take up to 8 weeks. My suggestion – 8 weeks till you are able to jog on the roads. If you are able to jog and walk briskly on the roads THEN ONLY attempt the yoga bending and all. Yes I saw you said the word “Gentle.” But for God’s sake remember you are going to have surgery. So give some respect to the surgical cut and be careful. You never know what/how internal tissues react with your “GENTLE” yoga. Listen to your body and give it time to heal. You have nothing to lose. 2 weeks POST SURGERY IS ***NOT*** the time to do exercise and diet even if you are an Olympic Gold Medalist and are in twenties. They can wait. Let the body come to terms with the surgery and heal itself. Yes, it takes time.
3.I have done the post surgery check up by Dr. Goodyear. YES IT IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT. I had surgery Thursday and travelled back to KY on Monday. Dr. Goodyear gave me OK on Monday to go home. Surgeon had better clear you before you travel. It is better to spend $200 on hotel for 5 days than travel next day or later and spend 20 days in ER. What do you think? I heard Ramshaw is a great surgeon. Listen to him. He knows the best time for you to travel. Some can travel earlier, some later and some at some other time. Again each case is different depending on age, past problems blah blah. No two people recover the same way. Each of the X billion people on earth are created randomly. Wish I have the algorithm God uses to create this big random numbers. Ha.
3a. I guess pillows and linens are provided by hotel and there are not necessary but if you cannot tolerate hotel pillows bring your own. Tell the hotel to give you a ground level room so you do not have to walk up and down (or you can use elevator). But inform the hotel that you are in town for surgery and may need some help, just in case. They will help too. My hotel helped in getting me food, groceries etc. Make sure you and your guys that come with you know at least two pharmacies nearby (if one closes or does not have the stuff you need you need a back up store), a grocery store, a dollar tree for sundry stuff and also a Walmart. Make sure your insurance covers everything. Take confirmation numbers from them for everything you are preapproved. Sometimes they can retract and say so and so not covered and you did not tell us and lie that way. Insurance people are in the business to MAKE money, not for your welfare. That is the final truth. If they do reimburse you later, KEEP ALL RECEIPTS.
3b. Take a laxative (the good old Milk of Magnesia for Example) for first week and slowly wean off of it. First week you will have pain – sometimes bad pain from surgical cut. Dr will give Oxycontin or such medicine to curb it. DO TAKE IT. FOLLOW DR ORDERS here. NO USE trying your great wisdom of how good you are with pain management and what a superman you are. I know this for sure since I went through it. ICE is your best friend. Get a dozen zip lock bags (Didn’t I say Dollar Tree?) and fill them up with ICE and keep using it on surgical site whenever you need. It will melt in 20 min and you will need one again. So keep two or three nearby. If you have a fridge in hotel room you are in great luck. Ask Dr. if you can and should walk. Dr. Goodyear told me to walk – however painful, keep walking. At the middle of the night I would wake up, put ICE and walk slowly around the room and corridors. It hurts, yea so what, walk walk walk walk walk. ASK DR IF YOU CAN WALK.
3c. Movies yes, but DO NOT WATCH comedies. If you laugh you will experience pain in stomach/IH area. No no, no to “dumb and dumber” and any Jim Carey type movies or even cry baby movies. Good to see something like “A Walk in the Clouds (Keenu Reeves)” or such easy going stuff. If you are sports fan, January could be NFL stuff and all. We watched “property brothers” on HGTV. It was easy and no tense movements.
3d. First one week it will be easy to fall asleep on bed on back and you will not be able to sleep on sides or belly. Waking up is another matter. You will need someone to push you up since your belly will hurt if you try to wake up yourself. My kids pushed me slowly on the back to put me on my feet. Since you will always sleep on back, expect some back pain. Make sure your bed is good. Not too soft or not too stiff. If you have that tilting bed with a remote, go for it.
3e. Food should be easily digestible. Lots of yogurt, and light stuff that make bowel movement easy. Make sure you have no constipation of ANY KIND. Yes you may be a great meat eater but I would limit hard to digest foods for 2 weeks. No spicy stuff too. Give a break to your body and stomach. People have never died by eating less but do hurt themselves by eating more. Bananas, and smoothies help too. If you can carry mixie with you, you can make your own smoothies in hotel room. Add different fruits to make different stuff and avoid boredom.
3f. Wear loose clothing and comfortable shoes/sox. Whatever underwear fits, the band should be above the surgical cut and your body will tell you which one is good and which one is not. I wore loose track pants (which you see on NBA pre-game when the players shoot hoops) that can be pulled out easily. Wear fresh clothes every single day and keep changing them every day. If Dr is OK with shower, take shower everyday. It makes you feel fresh. I took shower everyday since surgical wound was covered up nicely and Dr.Goodyear said it was fine.
4.Post depression – I never had any in PA but after I came back to KY, After a week or two I was still feeling some pain here and some pain there and started feeling I may never run or jog or do yoga. But I just pushed myself to avoid the thoughts and kept walking. Within 6 weeks I was able to jog and was normal. I even put a bet with my kid that I could never run/jog and was very happy to lose the bet :-). Keep a positive attitude. If you have some iPad, books, use them.
I do not know if you are male or female but if you are male, one or two days after surgery the testicles will swell due to accumulated blood but will become normal in 4 or 5 days. No need to do anything. Just put ICE wherever you feel like.
Take good care of yourself and post your progress here. It is good for other people to know. Also I would ask that you post your experience with Dr. Ramshaw. I have heard good things about him but not sure really how great one feels after a surgery in his hands.