no approval for exercise.

Message

#1 Post by **kballing** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:54 pm

so, turns out my oms said, no way to exercise of any kind for 6 weeks, not even yoga. i will try to be a compliant patient, but it is hard going from being extremely active to being approved only to walk. i guess i don't understand what the clear reasoning behind this is, other than injury and perhaps increasing the heart rate too much and causing inflammation and additional bleeding?
smile, you mentioned getting on your bike trainer, did you have any problems with that> your oms have recommendations regarding this.
this is sort of the last thing on my list that i use as an arsenal for healing and i feel odd not to have it available.
any thoughts anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

#2 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:49 am

Hi kballing,

Six weeks does seem like a long time. I am going to add this to my list of questions to ask my surgeon next time I see him! I am really active too and I am dreading having to sit and do nothing for that long. I am pretty seriously into rock-climbing and I would hate to have to take six weeks off. It would set me back so much.

Also, thanks for yor tip on MLD. I am going to look into that one too.

Hope your recovery is going well.

#3 Post by **jsenigaglia** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:59 am

Hey there kballing,

At first, I had read on my "pre-op pamphlet" that there was to be no excercise for the first 6 weeks as well. I had double jaw surgery, and not sure as to what you had. I had my 4 week check up last Tues (12/5) and asked about the excercising thing (as like you, I am very active and started feeling lazy:) and she said I could do low impact things for now. Nothing to where Im really going to clinch my mouth together (i.e heavy weight lifting, etc) but cardio was fine. She said to be careful of the treadmill cause your jaw can kind of bounce up and down as you run, but things like the stairclimber, elliptical, and bike were fine. I dont do any kind of Yoga, but Im sure you would be fine doing that as well. Maybe it depends on how each one of us heals, and how far along we are at certain points of our recovery?

Hope this helps!

Joe

#4 Post by **Lillers** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:56 am

things like the stairclimber, elliptical, and bike were fine.

Oh, thank God!! I'm going in for my lower jaw surgery next Monday (Dec 18th) and I'm utterly hooked on my elliptical. Although I'm actually kind of looking forward to a couple of days of quality couching / reading / DVD watching, I fear I'll go squirelly if that goes on for too long.

Kballing, I hope you get the go-ahead for exercise soon. Good luck!

#5 Post by **kballing** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:10 pm

Thanks so much, everyone.
yes, this is a real bummer since exercise seems to improve my mood so much as well as just allowing me to get rid of some extra energy. now, granted having a few days in there as rest days was absolutely perfect and i took them with no activity at all, only walking around here and trying to make sure my body got stuff moving. before, i went in to see my oms i already started doing the recumbent bike without tension for a little over an hour a day with no problems, so i guess i am just not sure what the reasoning is. i am not even a fan of the recumbent bike, but thought it solves any of the problems, like injurying yourself, raising blood pressure too high, or jostling anything. it also doesn't burn a ton of calories and i am taking in more than adequate (i have even been a little concerned that i am eating too much), so it is really hard not to do anything. i don't feel week or dizzy afterwards and don't feel any pain or tension and i am not clenching my teeth. i just can't think of any other reason for this. i definitely won't do any yoda for now as putting head in a downward position might be problematic or the tension of plank positions.
in any case, would love to hear any other thoughts or experiences. oh, also, i only had lower jaw done and as of today after my MLD treatment, my swelling is pretty much gone (wish i could say the same for the numbness) since some of the advice might be different for additional procedures.
thanks all. you are awesome!!

#6 Post by **kballing** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 3:37 pm

thanks so much for sending that along, that makes a ton of sense to me and is in alignment with a lot of other things that i have read online. yes, it would be great to hear from smile as well since i remember her mentioning the bike trainer. smile? you out there.
thanks again. much appreciated.

#7 Post by **smile2006** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:27 pm

Hello-

Unfortunately it seems like your surgeon is very cautious. I think many here have engaged in physical activity after surgery. I was cleared for ridng on my cycling trainer a week after surgery and was able to run at 2 1/2 weeks (not off roads and not running hard). At 4 weeks my surgeon allowed me out on the roads for road cycling but I was restricted from mountain biking for 3 months because the likely hood of falling is greater and it is incredibily bumpy. I will say this in regard to activity after double jaw surgery (plus genioplasty), I had about a month of frustration because everytime I exercised the swelling seemed to kick up again. Eventually this went away but it was frustrating because my body and mind wanted to move but it made my face feel more swollen (I can't explain it, but it felt more swollen but didn't look more swollen). However, I was glad I could get out there and do something. I think a stationay trainer is the way to go initially because there is no bounce and no chance of falling. If you have a recumbant that is even better because the lower upper body and head position of a regular road bike on the trainer I think contributed to my feeling of swelling (due to body position). For me, 6 weeks after surgery, when i got my splint out marked a return to more normal patterns of activity.

#8 Post by **4beauty4symmetry** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:43 pm

kballing,

i'm wondering if you could post some of your recipes on this board or, if you wish, pm me.

it sounds like our eating habits may be sympatico. and i may not be the only one. i'm going to try sweet potato with SPAM SPAM SPAM or blueberries tomorrow.

take care,

jenn

#9 Post by **thefuture** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 6:01 pm

I asked my surgeon about exercise on Wednesday and he said exercise and weight lifting were fine. I'm a little over 4 weeks post op.

#10 Post by **kballing** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:46 am

thanks again, everyone for all of your feedback. my car got towed because of street cleaning yesterday, so i did take a 3 mile walk to the tow place. it was nice to be out and about and use my body a little more. i have been doing some pedaling and shopping, shopping, shopping which also gives me an opportunity to burn some energy as well. will look forward to getting back to my extended work-outs. i haven't really lost any weight at 8 days post-op, but given how much i have eaten and with the absence of my 2 hour work-outs, i am pleased i haven't gained any either.

4beauty - unfortunately, i don't really have any recipes as i don't really cook. my diet pretty much consists of as many whole foods types of things that are pureed, yogurt, and protein powder. so, my typical day is something like fresh blueberries with yogurt and protein powder blended, pureed butternut squash with cinnanmon, organic preservative dairy free cream of chicken soup, garbanzo beans with indian simmer sauce pureed (this is one of my FAVORITES), whole baby oats with peanut butter, mixed vegetable juice, sweet potato puree, organic apple SPAM SPAM SPAM sauce. sorry, that i don't have more in terms of actual recipes. i eat pretty simply and try to limit any unneeded ingrdients. Imagine is a company that makes some soups that do not have sugar (for the most part, there are a couple, i think, with evaporated cane juice, which i consider sugar) or preservatives. they have these at whole foods.

the future - were you just given approval at 4 weeks post op for this type of exercise or was he saying that yeah it was fine all along?

thanks again everyone!

Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:02 am

kballing,

you have just given me some great meals that are just what my stomach and palate would want but my mind would not imagine. thank you.

i rarely eat added sugar, and in real life stay with whole foods and away from prepared foods, with the exception of things like tomato sauce.

the only items i will stay away from is the indian simmer sauce and organic prepared soups--they almost always have excessive amounts of sodium--i try never to buy any prepared sauces that are over 200 mg sodium, while not much has been written or studied on it, i am skeptical that the large amts of sodium that go into today's food is good for your body.

that said, i do love tortilla chips. . . .

btw, my oms just told me the other day at my preop consult that i could do the elliptical two weeks after surgery--i'm hoping that when i see him on wed he will be okay with sooner.

he is adamant that i not swim for a few months, which surprised me, but his reasoning made sense--no pool is clean, even w/ chlorine, and i am high risk of sinus infection. oh well, learned the crawl just for this operation, guess i'll have to put it to use in the future.

jenn

#12 Post by **science teacher** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:14 pm

I read this post and I think it is funny.

My OS sent me out in the world with the words, "do what you want just be careful".

I have problems with most exercise because I don't want to. But I amd a walk/jogger and haven't been able to do that because I broke my leg the first of October. I got my cast off 11/3 and had surgery 11/22. I'm waiting til the New Year to start ramping it up again. I really need to get back on my bicycle.

Kim