Pain?

re7777 · June 21, 2011

I am 4 weeks post op today and down 20 pounds since surgery and 31 pounds since my pre-op appt. Woohoo! I've been feeling really great. The only set back I had was I had a low grade fever 2 weeks ago. That's it!

Since I've been feeling better, I've been doing more. On Saturday I went for a 2.5 miles walk (I had only done 1.5 before) and then I ran a bunch of errands. I was exhausted when I got home. On Sunday, I was a little sore around my top left incision area so I chilled out and didn't exercise. However, I did lift more than I had in the past, especially getting things together to go back to the office on Monday. Yesterday was my first day back in the office (worked from home for 2 weeks). I felt great. At lunch, I went for a short walk and that's when the pain came back. I sat for most of the rest of the day, but every time I got up, it was still sore. Then last night it was bothering me, so I am working from home again today.

Any thoughts on what might be causing this before I bother my doctor? I'm thinking I might have strained myself w/ the exercise and lifting/pulling. I did a lot of bending. Do you think I could have done something else. My stomach area looks fine. No bruising or swelling. I know it's not gas b/c gas pains for me are more in my back, chest and shoulders and it's more acute.

Thanks so much for your advice.

robin

anonynurse · June 21, 2011

Sounds like too much too soon to me. Some docs don't give clearance to walk at all until 4-6 weeks out and 2.5 miles, while not a lot on the whole, may be more than your recovering body is willing or able to handle right now, especially when paired with errands and lifting. I see the pain you have as a warning sign to scale back. Maybe try cutting it down to one mile and work up gradually from there. And take it easy on the lifting for another couple of weeks.

re7777 · June 21, 2011

Thanks for your response! That's what I was figuring but needed to hear it from someone else. When I saw my doc 2 weeks ago he said I could begin exercising, but was pretty vague on that. I think my version of exercising is a bit different than others.

My 1 mile to 1.5 mile walks thru the neighborhood were fine, but I guess that other one put me over the edge. It's hard when you feel so good, you think you can do so much more than you can! Very frustrating, especially when the weather is nice and all you want to be doing is moving around outside!