Walking after surgery

[snowkitten 371]

OK, that's what I get for not paying close enough attention.

I haven't been sleeved yet, have visited surgeon's office and talked with them.

This is a good question, something I will have to ask myself on my next visit.

I took the message as how much walking should I do, and that's what we were told was to try and get in 10,000 steps/day (of course wouldn't be able to do this right after surgery, but something to work towards in the following weeks, months, etc.). Sorry for reading more into the OP message. :-)

Whew! Had me worried there lol

[snowkitten 371]

Right out of the surgery, the staff gave me a goal to walk a lap around the floor at least 4 times that day. So I did. I told them it was easy (I was in very little pain) so for the next day they made me do it 8 times. It was still pretty easy. I would get winded toward the end of my lap. So it's not like I was running marathons or anything. It was a bit harder in the real world. I had to walk with my husband to the bus stop to go home - that was actually a challenge - I found myself walking much slower than my normal pace, and it felt like there was an elephant on my lungs - the staff said my oxygen levels were good, but that I was just taking shallow breaths as a defense mechanism due to the surgical trauma. But I did it. So really, walk as much as you can without causing yourself any pain. The hardest thing to navigate that first week for me was steps. I live in a 3rd floor walk up condo. They advised me to limit taking them but, I had no way to leave my house to walk otherwise! I did try to stay out for awhile rather than go up and down them (sometimes that meant stopping in a Starbucks to sit or finding a park bench).

Oh, and they are gonna give you one of those breathing devices - make sure you use it several times a day, it helps clear the lungs of that heavy elephant on your chest feeling and gets your oxygen levels back up on par with normal faster.

Thanks for the suggestions!