In yesterday’s blog I covered the wide variation in recovery time and costs for an appendectomy. I told you I’d let you know what the surgeon told me to expect.

Most likely if you’re reading this blog, you understand that once you’ve reached a certain level of fitness it is easy to maintain that level and most importantly – you feel good. You also understand that doing nothing for several days or weeks means a loss of fitness, endorphins and you just don’t feel good.

When I went to visit the surgeon to find out details about an upcoming appendectomy, I wanted to know how much downtime to expect. Doing some research prior to my visit to his office, I expected to have him tell me it would be two weeks before I could do much of anything.

I was pleasantly surprised by his answer.

Before asking him what I could do post-procedure, I told him my current routine that I’ve carried for more years than I can remember. That is strength train once or twice per week, swim two to three times, run two or three days and ride two or three days. Weekly hours are between eight and 10 this time of year, more in the summer.

Given my current fitness and history, here are my guidelines

• I will likely be on pain meds of some kind for three to five days. As soon as I’m off pain meds, I can run and ride.
• The incisions close in two or three days, but don’t start back to swimming for a week to be safe.
• Avoid weights for two weeks.

My plan:

• Initial workouts should all be less than an hour and all aerobic. I’ll be on an indoor bike and treadmill to be sure all is well before heading outside.
• The primary goal of workouts is to speed recovery.
• A secondary goal is to minimize loss of aerobic fitness.

Getting back to light workouts in some three days or so is a target for me. We’ll see how it all pans out.

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