CULICAN's LOG

[MBasic]

Sorry to hear that. Hope you heal soon

[Culican]

Sorry to hear that. Hope you heal soon

Thanks.

It should be just a bump in the road. Hopefully by Halloween I will be stronger than I am now.

[Culican]

Had laparoscopic (TEP) inguinal hernia repair yesterday. It had been discussed with the surgeon, and approved by the insurance, that if he found one on the other (left) side when he was in there with the scope that it would patched too. He found one on the left and repaired it too.

Was wheeled from the pre-op area to the OR at about 12:30pm. The midazolam they injected into my IV made for a wild ride down the hospital corridors, almost worth the price of admission. The last thing I remember is being moved from the gurney to the operating table; woke up about 1:30pm in the recovery room. (Was home by 3:30pm.)

Nurse asked me, "Do you need anything for pain?" I replied that I did not as I was only sore sort of like I did too many situps. Then she asked if I would like to scoot back because my feet were off the end of the gurney. I said, "Yes", and she turned to get some help. At the same time, I grabbed the rails and scooted myself back. She looked at me and gasped, "He's moving himself." Then she asked me again if I needed anything for pain. I replied that I did not again and asked, "Why, should I, are people in a lot of pain after this type of surgery?" She looked at me and said, "Usually the ones in better shape don't have as much pain."

So far I have only needed acetaminophen (paracetamol for the those in the UK). Pain has been very mild.

Squatting prior to this has made me able to get out of chairs and bed using only my leg power and without thrashing around, which most certainly helps.

Not even 24hr yet; after 48 I can start ramping up my activity levels.

If anyone has questions about this type of procedure and my experiences, feel free to post here or to PM me.

[Culican]

Tuesday 9/05/17, 1:35pm, M 62yo, 5'9.5", BW=185.0lb, Waist=32.5in, Kcal/day (7 day average)=2993

Went in to do 30min on the bike. Supposed to be good for recovery. Butt got sore after 20min so I ended up doing 20 on the bike and 10min on the treadmill.

Hospitals shouldn't give you instructions in the recovery room. When I got home half the pages were missing. I recall the recovery room nurse saying that she was going to try and print some missing pages. I don't know if she did and I lost them or what. All I know is the next day I realized how little I really remembered of that afternoon. Sort of like a crazy party.

Put in a call to my surgeon's office several times and still haven't gotten a reply. Don't really know what my restrictions are, when they want a follow up visit, when I can go back to work (I could go now but my job requires 30lb lifted to shoulder level and also 30lbs pushed 100ft. And they don't permit *any* restrictions on a doctor's work release.) BTW, I picked up a 42lb bag of cat litter and had no problems. Shhhh!, I'm not going to tell the surgeon.

So, I have been left to search the net and find out what surgical practices that publish their post laparoscopic hernia surgery restrictions online say. (Seriously, I have trying to reach my own doctor as he was the one inside of me.) It seems they are all over the map. One prominent New York surgeon has his patients on the bike the day after surgery with no and he says "NO" with a capital N restrictions after 48hr; says your body will let you know when you are doing too much. Seems sort of like Rip. At the other end of the spectrum for this type of surgery is nothing over 20lb until three weeks (21days) are up.

BTW, when I was at the gym for the bike and treadmill I really wanted to go to the weight section. It just killed me to not be able to.

[Culican]

Saturday 9/09/17, 4:00pm, M 62yo, 5'9.5", BW=186.0lb, Waist=32.5in, Kcal/day (7 day average)=3161

10 days post op

Bench Press: 165x4, 155x5, 155x5
Chins [45˚ grip]: BWx8, BWx8, BWx8
Hammer Curls: 42.5x8, 42.5x8
Seated DB Press: 45x8, 45x8

Obviously a little less than I had gotten up to prior to surgery but my overriding rule today was no grinding. I probably could have gotten 165x6 on the bench but I stopped before the reps got hard.
Same with the chins, usually I get at least 9,9,10 but those last reps have me thrashing around. I wanted to avoid that today. Interestingly the chins did not bother me; many who have had hernia repairs claim that it took months to get back to chins because of the tightness in the lower abs.

No pain today, a bit of tugging at certain times and a bit of soreness after. But nothing extreme. Mentally, it's good to be back so fast.

I am heartened by the instructions of one surgeon in New York for the identical surgery (although there is no way I would have gone to the gym on post-op day three): "On the third post-operative day, unless told differently by me, you have FULL UNRESTRICTED physical activity. There is no limitation, and the more you do, the quicker the pain and discomfort will disappear. Some discomfort and pain is normal. Your body will set your limits, though it is ok to be aggressive."

[Culican]

Sunday 9/10/17, 3:40pm, M 62yo, 5'9.5", BW=186.0lb, Waist=32.5in, Kcal/day (7 day average)=3205

11 days post op (laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair)

Squat: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 255x1, 275x1, 225x5 Put on belt for 275 set but could not cinch it to the 4th hole because of soreness at incision by my naval. Interestingly I felt my glutes straining at 275; have never noticed that beforer even at 325

Leg Press: 270x12, 360x10
Ab Wheel: 5reps, 10reps Usually do 20repsx2 but my lower abs are still sore. Probably, it is from when they stick the baloon into the pre-peritoneal space and pump it up to make space to work in. Then they inflate the space with C02 to keep it open while they work.

[Culican]

Wednesday 9/13/17, 1:50pm, M 62yo, 5'9.5", BW=186.0lb, Waist=32.5in, Kcal/day (7 day average)=2985

15 days post laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair

Press: 110x5, 105x5, 105x5
Chins [45˚ grip]: BWx6, (BW+25)x3, (BW+25)x4, (BW+25)x3
Incline Press: 95x5, 135x5, 135x5
BB Curls: 80x10, 80x10
Rev Curls: 70x10, 70x10
Dips: BWx5, (BW+25)x5, (BW+25)x5

[Culican]

Thursday 9/14/17, 2:20pm, M 62yo, 5'9.5", BW=186.4lb, Waist=32.5in, Kcal/day (7 day average)=2965

16 days post laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair

For some reason I was most apprehensive about doing deadlifts. I told myself that I was doing them before, when my intestines were migrating down through my groin, so why worry now.
Unlike the other lifts, which I hadn't done in a little over two weeks, I hadn't done deads in over three weeks (23 days to be exact).

Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x5, 255x1, 275x3, 295x1, 275x5
SGDL [straps]: 225x5

Intestines stayed put, I'm okay.

[Farback]

Impressive recovery. I'm 61, no hernia but a modified heart after a STEMI in 2014. I worked my way back to fit as quick as I could and never looked back.

[Culican]

Last Tuesday the surgeon said, "Just don't lift anything too heavy for two more weeks." Of course (and a good thing), he didn't define "too heavy."

Doctor's are funny. Many surgical practices publish their recovery instructions for laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery on their websites. It ranges from unrestricted activity after four weeks to unrestricted activity after 48 hours. What that tells me is that no real studies have been done. Rip was back at it after 11 days, one of the SSC's on this board (Ryan Arnold) was back after 10 days, I_iz_a_fatass posted that it took him two weeks to get back to his pre-op weights so I am encouraged.