I have my consultation coming up (got the mail that the waiting time was 2-3 months when I got it in June), and is there anyone else who has done keyhole here? I'm pretty sure I will end up doing keyhole because it's what's the most commonly used by my surgeon, plus I've been on T for over a year so I'm really small (like, mine look more like very flabby bitch tits).
What I'm especially interested in is how it affected your physical activity. I mean, you can go to the gym if you just get up on the treadmill, for example? No arms?
Also, how much mass did you lose during recovery time, and when were you able to use your upper body again?
I'm going for DI so I can't speak for most of your keyhole questions, but someone on here raised a good point on one of my threads that treadmills are not wise for recovering top patients, as if you stumble (which does happen, it's likely at least once), you're likely to grab for the bars on the side. Pulling like that could result in tearing, scar stretching, swelling, bruising, and who knows what else. Just something to consider.
Hey, I had keyhole round about 6 months ago. You can find my post under the sticky thread somewhere.
My surgeon expressly forbid any and all physical activity (excluding walking, which was encouraged) for at least six weeks. No jogging, no lifting, nothing at all that'd get my heartrate up for that time. This is a little more strict than most people's instructions from what I've seen, but I stuck with the recommendations even so (and did end up healing fantastically.)
At the end of those 6 weeks, though I was allowed to resume physical activity I still had some tenderness and tightness in the area (it felt like something was pulling if I stretched my chest too much, like the scar tissue was stuck), which meant that I was leery of exercise such as pullups and chest presses and continued to avoid those for a while longer, up until about 3-4 months. I can't really say how much muscle mass I lost as I never really had much, but I didn't suffer weight gain.
Recovery wise I'd say that I was back to normal and pretty much fully 'healed' by about 1 month, and had virtually no pain or discomfort after the first week or two (and very minimally before that), minus the restriction in movement I enforced on myself. Keyhole recovery really was easy for me, but I was in excellent health and suffered no complications to cause delay.
Quote from: Xandr on July 20, 2015, 10:09:59 AM
Hey, I had keyhole round about 6 months ago. You can find my post under the sticky thread somewhere.
My surgeon expressly forbid any and all physical activity (excluding walking, which was encouraged) for at least six weeks. No jogging, no lifting, nothing at all that'd get my heartrate up for that time. This is a little more strict than most people's instructions from what I've seen, but I stuck with the recommendations even so (and did end up healing fantastically.)
What about brisk walking?
With keyhole surgery I believe you have to wear a binder much longer than you do with double incision. I would recommend getting yourself, from Amazon, a Spanx tank top so that after your surgical binder can come off you'll still have something to give you some support. It prevents fluid from building up, and it helps the skin stick back to the chest wall. I believe brisk walking is fine but I would give it about a week or so until you do.
Yes indeed, I had to wear a compression shirt 24/7 for the first 6 weeks. Some people are told to wear them even longer. I expect the 'level' of brisk walking will tell you whether or not it's ok. If it gets your heartrate up, probably not, but otherwise it'd probably be fine. Just stick with whatever your surgeon recommends, and be sure to ask.