Ready to return - and a few questions about post-surgery exercising

[shutterpillar]

Things sure have changed a lot around here in the six months I have been gone... lots of new categories to explore! Lots of new members, too. Hopefully a handful of you might recognize me, though.

I disappeared around March to go on vacation. The vacation ended up being great (we went to Disney World ) and I was in the best shape I have ever been in thanks to running and body weight exercises. But upon my arrival home, things began taking a turn for the worse. First, after freaking out over some very weird heart beats, I learned I had sinus tachycardia, which is where my heart beats irregularly and faster than normal (my resting heart rate is around 99-110). That alone caused me to greatly decrease my exercise time - particularly the intensity of my running. I decided to lay off of the NF forums until I got myself back on a good exercise schedule. I was still fairly new and figured no one would miss me anyway.

Once I finally got into a good groove after learning about my heart condition, I was bombarded with a cancer scare. Around June I began feeling a rather large lump in my lower stomach between my hip bones. I went to the doctor and had an ultrasound done, where they discovered I had a grapefruit sized tumor on my left ovary, and a tennis ball sized tumor on my right ovary. My case was immediately given over to my amazing gynecologist and I was given a CT scan and blood work to determine whether or not these tumors were cancerous and to learn more about what they consisted of. I was told there was a good chance they would not be cancer, but would not know for sure until they were biopsied. I was also told that I would need surgery to remove not only the tumors, but my left ovary and fallopian tube, and potentially my right ovary and fallopian tube as well. Thank goodness my husband and I got having kids out of the way early, right?! I think if that were not the case, I would have been more upset about losing my reproductive organs.

During the time I was waiting on my surgery date, I was told I was not allowed my usual exercises, so I freaked out and did not exercise at all for an entire month. It would have been bad news to have one of those tumors rupture, especially if they were cancerous.

Turns out I only needed my left ovary and tube removed. I was able to keep righty. AND, neither of the tumors were cancerous. Now I am on the home stretch of recovering from laparoscopic surgery and I have a question.

Keeping my sinus tachycardia in mind, how should I go about re-building my muscle that I have lost while waiting on surgery? Obviously I would like to take it slow... I have been walking and that has helped a lot. My post-op appointment is tomorrow and if I am given the ok by my GYN, I would like to resume my normal running and bodyweight routine, but of course very very slowly. Anyone have any tips on how to ease myself into that without hurting myself?

I hope to hang around here more often, though I cannot guarantee I will be as active as I used to be. I've definitely fallen off the wagon a bit and need to get caught up!

Edit to add - Fortunately, I have not gained any of my weight back as I have continued to eat healthily... I just lost a bunch of muscle. :/

[bigm141414]

Hey, welcome back shutterpillar!

And holy carp that is a lot of stuff going on in 6 months! I'm glad you are okay and didn't have the big C.

As for your question: since you have a serious medical condition consult a doctor and a physio. While we here at NF have a lot of answers, for things like this it is best to seek out professional medical and training advice.

[shutterpillar]

Thank you, Big! Of course doctors orders come first. I was definitely going to talk with my gyn and doctor about it tomorrow during my appointment, but I thought there might be someone out there who had this particular heart condition and could give me their experiences.

When I first learned about the heart condition, I was initially ok'd for running, I just needed to watch my body closely and make sure I stopped and rested when I needed to. Wearing a HRM was also recommended.

I was told pretty much the same thing as far as my body weight exercises went. To sum it up - just a big "dont exert yourself too much" from the doctors.

Thanks for the welcome back!

[Weazley]

As someone who is recovering from surgery (one in november last year, one in feb this year), definitely listen to your doctors. Mine wasn't a heart condition, so I would check with your cardiologist as a priority. Don't want to give you any advise that could cause you to have further difficulties. I did however have a laparoscopic surgery. Be careful with your stomach. Mine still gets random pains and cramps - and the scars are always worse when I'm too hot or cold. "Don't exert yourself too much" is such a subjective thing. My advice would be to listen to your body. Do what feels best for you. It will get better, but don't expect miracles, or for it to be okay overnight. Its irritating but I still don't feel 100% even all these months down the line. But then again, I wasn't fit when I went through it all - I hope you bounce back quicker than me!

Best of luck with the rest of your recovery xxx