Thought I'd see what folks' experiences/advice might be...

I had surgery on 14 December. So, I'm three weeks out and anxious to hit six weeks when I'm cleared to do more than walk on the treadmill, etc. I'm planning on doing a super sprint triathlon in mid-August. It's only a 200 yard swim, 5 miles bike, 1 mile run. So, not particularly taxing, but at my age (59) I do need to train.

The range of experience I've read about is pretty dramatic in terms of residual pain, limited range of motion, etc. So, just wondering what folks think about being able to do this seven months from now. Is this reasonable? Mostly I'm concerned about the swim. Any reason to think I won't be able to be in the pool by April or May?

Thanks for your insight!

Hey Jak,

I don't see why not. The real concern with any kind of reaching movement at this point in your recovery isn't that you're going to tear yourself open, but that you might stretch the incision line and make the scar larger. Aesthetics of my scar did not matter to me, and I went back to work a week post-op where I was regularly reaching overheard with a full arm extension. I didn't experience any pain in doing so, and while my scars did stretch along the ends closest to my armpit, it isn't wider than a 1/4" at the thickest point.

When you're cleared to work out at six weeks, get back in the pool. Take it slow to start and get a feel for your range of motion, but I see no reason why you'd spend 4 months out of the water. Actually thinking about it, I had surgery April 21st and went swimming on July 4th. So 2 months and 2 weeks basically. By then, even the most residual soreness I had was gone.

At 8 weeks I got in the pool and did some wading around and light swimming. I could feel the scars pulling with the new motion. When you go to do something after 6 weeks and do not feel it in the chest area then you are good to go at it more strenuous. You should be fine by April if there were no complications.

Thanks to you both!

One thing you might try if you're having soreness while swimming is to hug a kickboard and just work on your kicking, that way you can get used to the kicking motion and not have to worry about keeping afloat with your arms. As a competitive swimmer up until college, I can attest that my coach had us spend a heck of a lot of time doing just that.

green27 - Thanks, yes, I had that in mind! Me? 100 fly until college!