Question:
How soon can I start walking after surgery?

I'm having LAP RNY on 6/28/01. How soon can I start walking and how much should I do. I don't want to over do it......I'm just excited and want to do all that I can!    — Travon P. (posted on June 18, 2001)

June 17, 2001
I was walking around the nurses station in ICU within 12 hours of surgery, walking down the halls of the wing by day 2 and walking one block at home by 5 days post op. yes, I was exhausted after all that but I was like you...wanting to do everything I could to make this work. By week 3 I joined a gym and was walking 1/2 mile and by week 6 I was walking 3 miles. Just a matter of how well you heal. Walking is great but I took it to the extreme and started aerobics at week 6 and developed a huge hernia so be careful and good luck to you. Prayer are being said for you so be serene in this hectic time.
   — Barbara H.

June 18, 2001
I think all immediate post-ops are encouraged to get up and walk within 12-48 hours after surgery (be it lap or open). I was up and about 6 hours after (really dizzy with the morphine, though) and at 12 hours could do a lap or two around the nurse's station. Getting up was really difficult at first (I had lap BPD/DS) but it got so much easier each time. :) I highly suggest getting out of bed - if only to sit in a chair, walk around the nurse's station, visit another post-op in their room. YOu may REALLY not want to initially but it will do WONDERS and EACh time gets easier. I was walking about 6 blocks when I got out of the hospital (spent three days there) and did tire easily. Now, I walk as much as I did pre-operatively (I always walked a lot - a mile or more at least 3 times a week) or moreso.. and I have much more energy and it doesn't tire me like it used to! :):) I would trust your body --- if you feel tired or achy, just cut the walk short. Still get up and do something but don't feel like you have to do x amount of blocks or in x amount of time. Just being active (not lying in bed or just sitting) will help blood flow, coordination and lower risks for blood clots (this risk extends beyond the hospital stay by the way), etc. I wish you the best! (lap BPD/DS with gallbladder removal, January 25, 2001),
   — Teresa N.

June 18, 2001
I had open 7 days ago. I had no catheter and needed to go as soon as I woke up but didn't, they tried at 2 hours but I got up just before 4 hours after surgery and continued every hour there after to go to the bathroom. I also needed no pain medication after 2 days.
   — Mandy M.

June 18, 2001
Travon, I had open RnY on 4/13/01 and they had me up and walking every 4 hours. Those first few times will be rough but each time gets a little easier. As soon as I got home I started walking, just down the street very slowly and back. Within 3 weeks I was in the gym and on the treadmill for 20 minutes at a time, an now at just over 8 weeks post-op I am 45 minutes on the treadmill and actually started jogging today. Just take it slowly and at you own pace, the results are nothing short of a miracle. In a little more than 8 weeks I am down 82 pounds, I wish you the best of luck and the same success I have had.
   — Barry R.