Truck Driver to have DS

Howdy,

I am hoping to have my DS surgery in October. I drive a truck for a living. I was wondering how long y'all think it would take meme to get back in a truck after surgery? My surgeon said I will be off work two weeks for certain and possibly longer. I have read post about ole post op energy levels. I am wondering how low of energy levels say 4 to8 weeks out. Some times I have to climb on top of a trailer and pull a light tarp. Once I get it tapped I can sit in the truck under the a/c, cool off, and get some fluids in. I am wondering if I could handle that 4 weeks out. How low energy /tired should I expect to be?

As for me I was pretty much in a mental fog for a month post-op. After that I improved every day and my energy level was fine. But until the 4 week mark or so I really struggled to put a coherent thought together and was rather all-consumed (pardon the pun) trying to get my fluids and protein in every day. I would not have wanted to wor****il the 4 week mark unless the financial situation was dire, but YMMV.

Thanks for sharing.

It was a good 5-6 weeks before I felt like myself again (I took 8 weeks off).  Another thing to keep in mind is that you are NOT to push/pull/lift anything more than 8 lbs for 8 weeks.  IMO - longer than that if you can.  The last thing you want to do is to recover just in time for a fresh hernia.

My problem wasn't post-op but getting use to having to go to the bathroom so much and not being able to make it.  It took about 4 weeks to get use to the change of my bowel movements.

Some people experience severe exhaustion after their surgery. I was one of those people. I was leading an active life pre-op, so I don't know why this happened. It seems to be pretty unpredictable. Other people sail right through and bounce back quickly.

to me, 2 weeks seems inadequate, even with the surgery done lap. There is so much done on the inside, your intestines need time to adjust, your metabolism needs time to adjust. I would take off longer than that if possible. Or, you may go back to work and find out you need more time once you give it a try.

Larra

Thanks for your thoughts ang for sharing your experiences.