Mobility after Surgery?

[PinkCloud]

Hello everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. 

Next week I'll be having my surgery to fix that birth defect, and finally own that neo vagina. I have a question though: how long will it take before you could walk?

I ask this, because I will go through surgery alone. I stay 7 days in the hospital, after which I will be released into the general public.  I will have to walk to a cab, and then boarding a train going home. I have no other travel options. I heard different stories. Some cannot even walk after 7 days, others walk considerable lengths after just 3 days. Does it depend on the person? the procedure? the body? I do worry a bit about this... of course, I can always check into a hotel if I can't make it, but I rather want to go home straight away.

[Natalie]

Shouldn't these be questions you need to be asking a surgeon? Everyone's experience is different based on a host of variables. I was getting up and walking around briefly multiple times a day 24 hours after my surgery for about 1-2 minutes each time. The nurses would help me out of bed and then let me hold onto them as I walked to the door and back to my bed to lay back down. The worst part is waiting for that packing to get removed. I don't miss that at all. it was so uncomfortable and just down right miserable. The nurses felt so bad for me they brought me a whole bunch of pillows to help try to make me more comfortable. One nurse also slept in a bed next to mine every night for the first 4 nights. By the time I left for my hotel my surgeon arranged everything for me to get back to my hotel and all subsequent trips back to his clinic. He also had one of his nurses go with me up to my room and make sure everything was okay. I then met with my surgeon everyday until I flew back home. By the 12th day I was cruising around the mall buying stuff. My surgeon even had one of his nurses go with me while I was shopping just to make sure I was okay.

[mrs izzy]

Was up and walking day after by next day was not a marathon but was walking steps.

[PinkCloud]

I asked my surgeon, he told me that: "You can't exactly call it walking", or something like that. But he doesn't see folks traveling home. I am curious about issues that might arise traveling so close after being discharged. In total, I think I have to walk about 200 meters / 650 feet to get to a cab and train station. Then having a two hour journey on the train before I reach home.

[divineintervention]

For me, I could walk really well 1 and a half months past my op C:

[Jennygirl]

Great thread, I've been wondering about this from personal accounts. Thanks for sharing!

[Flan]

I was doing the zambie shuffle after a day but it took a couple days after that before I was really on my feet. YMMV when it comes to preceived pain and energy.

[Jenna Marie]

It depends in part on the surgeon; Brassard believes mobility helps with healing, so he tries to get people out of bed within 24 hours.

Personally, I was walking laps around the nurse's station at 18 hours post-op, climbing stairs in the residence on day 3 (those stairs were designed there on purpose to give extra exercise, I was told!), able to walk about a quarter mile round trip by the time I left for home on day 11, and managed my first mile round-trip walk at about the third week. I took the walking advice to heart, since I like walking anyway.

I did, however, still tire easily and need to nap or at least rest after even mild exercise for about a month, and probably wasn't back to my full energy level until close to six months.

[PinkCloud]

It depends in part on the surgeon; Brassard believes mobility helps with healing, so he tries to get people out of bed within 24 hours.

Personally, I was walking laps around the nurse's station at 18 hours post-op, climbing stairs in the residence on day 3 (those stairs were designed there on purpose to give extra exercise, I was told!), able to walk about a quarter mile round trip by the time I left for home on day 11, and managed my first mile round-trip walk at about the third week. I took the walking advice to heart, since I like walking anyway.

I did, however, still tire easily and need to nap or at least rest after even mild exercise for about a month, and probably wasn't back to my full energy level until close to six months.

Interesting... I had a very bad illness before. It was an infection of the ear. It was hell on earth. The doctors said I needed to take rest, stay bed ridden, and I would be better after two weeks. I ignored the advice and started walking on day 5. I could barely move because of imbalance in the ear, making me puke on every tiny movement. Still, I went outside and started to walk. Step by step, and walk, and walk until I was completely exhausted. 300 feet seemed like a marathon to me. By day 7 I was healed for about 90%. I believe in mobility. For me it aided in my recovery.

I like to walk. Don't own a car, so I walk everything all my life. I usually walk around 6-7 miles a day. So I think I have the muscle strength in my legs. My legs are really toned from all that walking. And I pack a strong kick.

[Jenna Marie]

PinkCloud : Well, that bodes well for your GRS, then. I also love walking and bike riding and was in fantastic shape beforehand, which I do think helped speed recovery.

(But listen to the surgeon on this one if they tell you to stay in bed/be careful; you don't want to pull out stitches or damage anything.)

[PinkCloud]

Thank you! I'll do. 

[Donna Elvira]

This definitely seems to be one of those YMMV questions. I did my surgery with Dr Chettawut and apart from having to go down a stairs from the recovery room to a normal room the day following the surgery, he does not allow you to move at all until you leave the clinic 3 long days later.

Until your cathether is removed (6-7 days post surgery) you are totally confined to your room but as soon as I got back from the the clinic, I was walking about quite a bit, pacing back and forth in my room dragging my "ball and chain" behind me. 

By the time I hit the 10 day mark, I could walk several hundred meters without any problem and a week later I literally spent hours walking around the Chatachuk market in Bangkok.  I was also able to cancel the wheelchair assistance that I had planned for the airports during my journey home.

A couple of the other people I was with had a similar recovery but there were also girls who still had difficulty going any significant distance 3 weeks post-op.

It really is very variable but I guess pretty well everyone except those that have had some severe complication can walk a bit by the one week mark.
Hope that helps.
Donna

[suzifrommd]

They wouldn't allow me out of bed for three days. After that I could walk easily, including climbing two flights of stairs to the recovery center.

[PinkCloud]

This definitely seems to be one of those YMMV questions.

Thank you Donna, it did help.

Yes. I've been reading a couple of blogs and forums, and I think I've distilled two kinds of people so far:

1.) Those that are up and running soon, are positive about anything, even the healing and the pain.
2.) Those that whine, moan and are in great pain for months.

I am also not sure if some people make their suffering or their fast recovery bigger than it really was.

So I take it with a grain of salt, because yesterday I started to take Lactulose, ordered by my Surgeon. I Googled Lactulose and some people said it tasted HORRIBLE! Well, I drank it last night and it tasted like nothing. It didn't even had a noticeable flavor to me. So yeah, some people complain about just everything. I stopped looking on the Internet and just go with the procedure and take it from there, day by day.

[Dread_Faery]

How long is the train journey? While I was up and mobile within a couple if days, I tired easily and the 5 hour car journey back from the hospital after I was discharged wiped me out. I ended up getting a uti the day after I got home just because I was so tired, and that was just from being a passenger. If the train journey is longer than a few hours, I would seriously consider checking into a hotel or something just to give yourself more recovery time.

[awilliams124]

I was up on the day after surgery, by which time I was on only ibuprofen and paracetamol. Walking out of hospital on day 8 was a gentle affair but it was a walk and not a waddle, and not at all painful. After another 7 days at home I walked just over a mile in my local park, but I was exhausted when I finished! Listen to your body, rest when you need to, and you should hopefully be fine. As a 50 year old my mobility was put to shame by a younger woman in hospital, but she overdid it and caused herself a significant setback. 3 months on and (touch wood) work has returned to normal, exercise routines are getting easier and gentle games of tennis are fine. Those three months seem to have passed in a heartbeat.  Good luck!!

[PinkCloud]

My apologies for the late reply.

I am just back from the hospital. I've had my SRS girls! Yay! I am in the club woohoo! 

So yeah, I could walk on day 2. On day 3 I was walking rounds in the hospital area. I walked one full hour. On day five I could do anything.

[Jenna Marie]

Sounds like things are going really well - I'm so happy for you!!

[DanaDane]

They wouldn't allow me out of bed for three days. After that I could walk easily, including climbing two flights of stairs to the recovery center.

Were they worried about walking up the stairs?

[EllenJ2003]

Congrats for your SRS!   

As others have said, it depends upon the surgeon.

When I had mine with Suporn back in 2003, I was kept in bed for a week after the surgery.  At the end of that period, I went (back - I'd stayed there the night before my SRS) to the Mercure hotel, and spent the next 3 weeks recuperating, walking down the block to Dr. Suporn's clinic for weekly and bi-weekly (in the first two weeks only IIRC) follow-up check-ups, to determine if I was healing properly.  During that time period a girl from California (who had her SRS a week before me), who I befriended (we still keep in touch with each other), and I did a lot of walking in the hotel, and were even taken for trips to an area Buddhist temple, a family owned Vietnamese restaurant (the food was delicious), a local Tesco's supermarket, and a flea market on the Gulf of Thailand, by one of Dr. Suporn's nurses.  My new friend and I also, walked several blocks to a nearby mall. 

All of the walking did me a world of good.  Being ambulatory after surgery helps promote healing, and it certainly did in my case.  I healed so well, that when friends and family (my mom called me every day despite it being an international call) told me that they missed me, and wondered if I could come home at the 3 week mark post-op (at the time [not sure if it's the same nowadays], you were expected to hang around till 4 weeks post-op), the good doctor said that I had healed so well, that he had no problem releasing me early.  If you're not in too much pain and discomfort, walking will do you good in the weeks after your SRS.

Ellen
HRT Since 1999
Orchiectomy in 2001
SRS Yaay!!! on Nov. 25, 2003 by Suporn