Question:
Exercise After Surgery

I am trying to schedule a consult with a surgeon and I am collecting all the information I can for my family and my PCP. I have seen almost nothing on exercise after surgery. Does any one have comments or suggestions on where to look for some information?    — Pat B. (posted on June 4, 2002)

June 4, 2002
I don't have much information, but water arobics is great exercise after surgery. I'm 3 weeks out and it's wonderful. I'm not all sore the next day, but I know that it's helping me work musles that I can't work out of the water. Good luck.
   — Sarah K.

June 5, 2002
Walking, water aerobics and light dumbells work well. I keep 2 5 pound dumbells beside my chair. When I am watching TV at each commercial break, I use the weights to help tone my arms. If you have problems walking, water aerobics is great because you get 10 times the workout on land and very little impact on any joints. However, water aerobics also may tend to keep your scale from moving but you definitely lose inches. When you get to the point where you can walk, if you just walk 1 or 2 miles each day, you will be happily surprised at how much it helps. I think each person has to figure out what works best for them. I went to the gym for about a year but just became too bored working out there. I prefer walking because I get to see different things on my walks versus walking in 1 place on the treadmill. Try using a search engine like yahoo and type in excerise. My friend uses www.biofitness.com. Best of luck
   — Ginger J.

June 5, 2002
Pat, your surgeon will tell you when you can start exercising again. I started out walking, building up from an initial 5 minutes, less than a week out of surgery, to a couple of miles by week 4-5. I still walk a few days a week. About 6 weeks out I started abdominal exercises, and at 8 weeks out, went back to yoga. Depends of what exercise you enjoy doing. As you lose weight, your energy level picks up and you want to do a little more. Some like to swim, others join gyms.
   — Cindy R.