A True Story of Better Fitness Leading to Faster Recovery

As I've mentioned in a few blog posts and on Twitter/FB, I recently (16 days ago) had double hernia surgery, and not the laparoscopic kind, but rather the full open kind.  I had mesh reinforcement sewn into my TVA muscle.  It's amazing how much this process has taught me that we use our abs and core in every day life, and for things you'd never think you need them for.

But, that's not what this post is about.  Instead, this is about how the physical condition I got myself into before the surgery was directly related to where I am in my recovery.  I just had my 2 week post op with my surgeon on day 13, and she was very impressed by and happy with my progress.  When we met to see if I needed the operation, she said recovery could be up to 3 months of being careful (i.e. no running, no lifting any real weight, etc), but 2 months was basically a given.  Another surgeon told me I wouldn't be able to drive for a month during an initial consultation when I was first diagnosed.

Based on my progress so far, my surgeon was very confident that I could be running in 4 more weeks.  OK, so it's not like I cut 90% off my recovery time, but I did cut 25% off her expected minimum.  I think that's really significant.  I did it by being in good shape across a number of areas:

• Cardiac
• Respiratory
• Musculoskeletal
• Dietary
• High tolerance for pain
• Attitude about my recovery (don't discount this one at all)

My heart was strong, meaning it could send oxygen-rich blood to the surgical sites to speed recovery.  That blood was being well oxygenated by my strong lungs.  My abs, which were being cut and sewn, but also being made sedentary for a while were in the best condition they'd ever been - meaning they were primed to repair themselves, and also were starting from such a good place that the atrophy they've suffered still puts them in a stronger place than they've been for most of my life.

As for my diet, it's become rich in a lot of good stuff from cruciferous vegetables, among other things I always knew I should eat but never did.

Lastly, and this is the lynch pin, I knew I had it in me to recover quickly, and that I was starting from a good place so I could do this quickly, safely and successfully.   I skipped all pain meds, keeping my mind clear and avoiding some of the side effects you don't want to deal with when your abs have been cut (I won't go into it, but it involves needing products that work like prunes...enough said).  So, in a setting with plenty of sharp pain, I was able to get myself up and make myself walk around - even just a bit every couple of hours - to keep blood flowing and limit the amount of systemic atrophy going on.  After 4 days, I forced myself outside, and walked down the block and back.  That was rough!  The next day, it was a walk around the block.  Soon enough, I was walking over a mile (my first mile came at the 1 week mark), and since then I've really gotten my cardio activity back into swing (30-60 minutes a day of elliptical, fast walking and maybe some recumbent biking).  This is why I'm doing well.

So, the message is clear - being fit is great all around, but there are plenty of times when we need to have surgery and being in good shape will make the surgery go better and the recovery, too.

My surgeon left me with one stat - the average American has 3 operations in their lifetime.  I don't know where you are in that statistic, but best to get your body primed to either avoid needing it in the first place, or bouncing back quickly.  That and all the other benefits of being fit.  OK, mainly all the other benefits, but this is good stuff, too.