swimming after surgery

does anyone know of any restrictions on swimming (or laying on raft) after surgery? I am taking off work for 2 weeks after surgery and plan on relaxing with my family during that time. thanks for any reply. Robyn

I was told to keep my incisions dry for the first two weeks and then no public pools or lakes for a month after; due to risk of infection. AB

Same as AB here. My doc advised me not to soak in the tub until my incisions were completely closed, but I reassured him that I couldn't fit in the bathtub. It was probably a month before I started swimming at the gym.

I went swimming at less than one week post open RNY.  I covered my incision line with Telfa non-stick dressing (just cut it into strips) then placed a piece of waterproof Tegaderm dressing over it.  Tegaderm can be bought at Walgreens under Nexcare brand and Telfa comes boxed under many brand names. I wore the dressing all day, then took it off at night. I would only advise doing this if the pool is your own or a family members -  so you know who and what is in the pool chemical wise just incase you have a structural defect in your dressing. I avoid lake water even on a good day after my son got a nasty parasite from one of the local lakes and had to be on meds for months. Doing light exercise in the pool really has helped me recover quickly. Best wishes, Alice

thanks so much for that info, that will help so much, I have my surgery on the 17th and took off untill August 2 and plan on spending that 2 weeks in our family pool. I was on a float this weekend and noticed that my stomach(where incisions will be) was not under water.

Next time you see your surgeon, just ask him if he has any restrictions on swimming, how long after surgery can you swim, etc.  Even though on a raft your "incision area" was not under water, accidents can happen, you can fall off the raft, or tip over, or kids splashing, so just be sure to discuss all of this with him, and he will let you know what is best :)  Good luck!