Dr. Aguirre Post-op Question....

I'm three weeks and two days out from surgery and I was wondering if it's ok for me to go swimming? I'm asking Dr. Aguirre patients, because every surgeon and surgery type is different, so I'm wanting to find out if any of his patients know the answer....... Cheers! Lorraine

Dr Aguirre told me to wait 1 month....Dot

I always understood it that the incision had to be completely healed up before going into the water. That means no scabs or holes at all...just skin... Dina

Dr Aguirre told me that I couldn't swim until all the scabs from my incision were gone AND the scabs from the drain tubes too. He said just skin, no holes or anything. He said depending on how you heal it could be a month or 2. I wasn't very pleased lol I LOVE to swim!!

Hi Lorraine, You've probably already gone swimming... but just noticed your post. The reason for the delay is for infection. Even if your incisions APPEAR to be healed... there are tiny, tiny, ways in which the bacteria in the pool can cause you infection. It is the stuff IN the pool... not so much the water. After my OPEN rny, when I wanted to swimming, I thought to myself "Hey, if I can stand in the shower for 20 minutes and have water sliding off of me... it isn't going to hurt to be inthe water for 5 minutes. I won't even let my fingertips get wrinkled.... But then someone warned me... it isn't that the incision will become "unglued" from the wrinkling and prinkling of staying in the water... it is the nasties of other bodies floating in the water that get into your pores and cause additional "infection." Or at least the need for your body to head off additional causes of concern. How ya doin'?

Pat, Well, thankfully there was an opening for a pediatrician appt., so I had to cancel the swimming. Then ya'll told me that I need to wait, so that pediatrician appt. was a blessing in disguise! Thank you for explaining why though, I was wondering what the big deal was. Makes sense now! I'm doin' ok! Like most, I'm still struggling with the water intake and the protein intake, but I'm getting better. I weigh myself tomorrow for my one month anniversary, so I'm excited about that! Hope all is well with you!! Cheers! Lorraine