Thread: Recovering from abdominal surgery

On May 13, I went into the hospital for what was suppose to be a resection of my colon. Once the surgeon got in there, he found that my appendix was ruptured and my right ovary was really abscessed big time. Those two body parts got taken out. Anyway, I'm home trying to recover from all this. The staples are all gone ( I now have a 6-8" scar running top to bottom ). Anyway else here have surgery in this part of the body? I'm wondering how long it will be before I can try dancing or yoga again. The up side is that I can watch dance videos all day if I want.

Hello hello,
You need to take at least 4-6 weeks off before lifting or straining or undulating. You can walk around as much as you like and some gentle footwork would be okay by now but I wouldn't push it. I'm an ER doc not a surgeon but I see all the complications ;)

Give it plenty of time. I had C-sections and found recovery of the abdominal wall to be slow & painful, I had to really pamper my belly for the first couple of months.

For SEVERAL months ....(like 24?) I had areas of numbness in my belly and pain when I tried to do sit ups, but take comfort that even the symptoms that endured THAT long finally went away.

BTW, there's a dancer in St. Louis who has a vertical belly scar from surgery, she dances professionally without a body stocking ALL the time and is so fabulous I don't think anyone notices it. As one of my students says about stretch marks, if anyone's looking at that, your costume isn't sparkly enough!

I too had a c-section and I am just now beginning to really build back the muscles. I had the c-section in late November 2006. I took about 6 months off and then slowly started back in. I did not go full speed until a year after. That is me though.

I have talked with other ladies that state they started back about 2 months after.

My suggestion is - listen to your body. Do not push it. Wait about 6-8 weeks before attempting anything and then start out slow and gentle.

I can tell you that the area will be numb for a year or so. For me - wearing costumes kind of irritated my scar.

I hope you get to feeling better soon!!!
:-)

I had my appendix out at the end of november (I had a laparoscopy and open surgery because in their "investigation just to make sure" they found what I had been telling them all week in hospital, my appendix was very messed up) so I had 4 incisions. It took me a couple of weeks to even walk upright, and a month to walk for any sustained period without a stick, I was back at work (school teaching) after 7 weeks, and standing all day was very tiring. I guess it depends where your incision is, my main one is really low (bikini line really) about an inch below the crease at the bottom of my abs, the problem isn't the incision per se, it's the musculature underneath, at first you can't use it, and then it's really weak so you lose all your core strength and posture.

In february (12 weeks post surgery) I went on a range course and found shooting in the prone position (like low cobra) for more than about 10 minutes a real strain.

I was dancing 4 months after surgery (I took it up again after 4 years off), with no problems. The little niggles I had been having now and again improved with gentle dance conditioning. My surgeons told me I wouldn't be 100% for about 6 months, I've had a couple of twinges this week, but I can do tiny yogaish situps (lifting head and shoulders off the floor) without payback.

Take things slowly, don't push yourself. I kept reminding myself of the lady on my ward who was in for her second hernia correction in 3 months because she had tried digging in the garden before she was healed. Be very careful with how you manovre yourself generally (I trapped nerves in my back trying to get out of bed when I couldn't use my abs at all). I found using a stick to walk really helpful, I felt a bit silly but it meant I could get out and about more which I am sure helped my recovery. Tummy control knickers helped too, not the really fierce ones, but the support meant that I didn't have the pressure of my innards pushing on my scar while the muscle wasn't able to hold it in - but I only wore them when I was going to be walking or standing a lot, around the house I let my muscles have a go!

For now just pamper yourself lots, catch up on reading videos and shiny thing making/shopping.

Originally Posted by TheGreatKathyLori

I'm wondering how long it will be before I can try dancing or yoga again. The up side is that I can watch dance videos all day if I want.

You might also want to check out this thread. Although it's not your specific surgery, there was a lot of good advice there that applies to general abdominal surgery.
http://www.bhuz.com/forum/belly-danc...psed-womb.html

Originally Posted by TheGreatKathyLori

On May 13, I went into the hospital for what was suppose to be a resection of my colon. Once the surgeon got in there, he found that my appendix was ruptured and my right ovary was really abscessed big time. Those two body parts got taken out. Anyway, I'm home trying to recover from all this. The staples are all gone ( I now have a 6-8" scar running top to bottom ). Anyway else here have surgery in this part of the body? I'm wondering how long it will be before I can try dancing or yoga again. The up side is that I can watch dance videos all day if I want.

WOW! I'm glad they caught it when they did if that was the case. You can die from either one of those conditions. You are lucky! The recovery time for exercise is about 6 weeks. Even then, You should take it easy and work yourself back up.~Molly RN

Hi,

I had a tubal ligation a few years back and it took a LONG time to heal. I had to speak at a Rotary function and just standing up there I knew I was white as a sheet (I shouldn't have tried; I'm sure they all thought I was on something!). Take it really, really easy. I think it was over a month before I even felt OK again (let alone dancing). Take care of yourself and thank goodness they found all that in time!

I'm glad I posted this question. I was wondering about the spots around the scar that seemed to be numb. It's been two weeks now since the surgery. I do get out each day to walk a bit. I'll just stick to the walking since it helps the most and has the least downside.

Oh another thing I just remembered is BioOil, it seems to have done wonders for my scar. It was all red, ragged and lumpy (I swear he cut me open with a breadknife) I put biooil on it every night and it is so much better.

vitamin e oil also works well to cosmetically heal scars (maybe that's what's in BioOil?)

Originally Posted by najla86

vitamin e oil also works well to cosmetically heal scars (maybe that's what's in BioOil?)

Yup, Vitamin E and A, plus some essential oils in a really nice light base, absorbs very well, not at all greasy.

Originally Posted by TheGreatKathyLori

I'm glad I posted this question. I was wondering about the spots around the scar that seemed to be numb. It's been two weeks now since the surgery. downside.

Do you mean numb like nerve damage or numb like its too sore? If it's the first one, it will probably take a couple months to get back to normal.