Treadmill Vs Elliptical Bike Post Surgery??

[JENILU]

I have a lot of health stuff going on right now, a few of you know the details. Anyway, I tend to get too gung ho and push myself and make things worse then they started out. I am trying to learn to go slow and do what is safe and productive or proactive rather than pushing and doing something devastating to my body. I have some upcoming surgery (possibly plural) in the abdominal area, as just part of what is going on with me. I have to exercise daily to keep the circulaton and feeling in my legs as well as other things that go wrong if I don't exercise at all (like blood sugar), so hopefully you see my dilemmma without a ton of detail? My fiancee is more than happyto get me a budget friendly treadmill to use a little at a time as a recover ( the main surgery is in early October). i am worried about the expense. I would LOVE to have one, but I hate asking him to spend the money. He has an eliptical that is also an exercise bike (if anyone has seen those). I have thought about just borrowing that, but imagine that it would pull too much on the abdominal area (I would use it as a bike, not eliptical).

Does anyone that has been through hysterectomy/ c-section type surgery have any advice on what I should do to keep moving for other problems, but be gentle enough - long enough, after a surgery like that? Should I stick with the 5 minutes at a time on a treadmill, or is the eliptical bike ok, or what?
It will hopefully be non-invasive depending on what they find.

(PS, I love Jessica and Leslie, etc... but get too gung-ho with them, so will have to avoid them for a while at that time)

[yogapam]

I had an abdominal hysterectomy and bladder lift 6 years ago. My doctor was quite conservative to say the least! No stairs for 3 weeks, no driving for 6 weeks, no weights or ab focused exercises for 6 weeks. I could go for an easy level walk fairly soon after I got home (I was in hosp for 4 days), but nothing strenuous. I admit to going a little stir crazy, but fortunately the weather was good and I was outside as much as possible. There are often second hand treadmills for sale on sites like Craig's list that would be affordable. I would discuss your activity level with your doctor, they all have their own preferences and, as I said, mine was on the conservative side. But I didn't have any problems or complications and I followed his instructions to the letter. So IMO one of those times that it's worth it to do as you're told.

Best of luck and wishing you a smooth recovery! I think being in shape before the surgery makes a huge impact on your post op recovery. One of the many advantages to being a workout vidiot!

[JENILU]

Originally Posted by yogapam

I had an abdominal hysterectomy and bladder lift 6 years ago. My doctor was quite conservative to say the least! No stairs for 3 weeks, no driving for 6 weeks, no weights or ab focused exercises for 6 weeks. I could go for an easy level walk fairly soon after I got home (I was in hosp for 4 days), but nothing strenuous. I admit to going a little stir crazy, but fortunately the weather was good and I was outside as much as possible. There are often second hand treadmills for sale on sites like Craig's list that would be affordable. I would discuss your activity level with your doctor, they all have their own preferences and, as I said, mine was on the conservative side. But I didn't have any problems or complications and I followed his instructions to the letter. So IMO one of those times that it's worth it to do as you're told.

Best of luck and wishing you a smooth recovery! I think being in shape before the surgery makes a huge impact on your post op recovery. One of the many advantages to being a workout vidiot!

Thankyou! I am usually not much of a Core/Abs worker, and I have been working at it a lot lately to hopefully help recovery.- thankyou! So it sounds like I probably need to stick with the treadmill idea. I kinda thought so, lol. I am glad to know you had such a good recovery!! I mentioned looking at craigslist, as that is the kinda thing I would do, but he doesn't want to buy someone else's possible prblems, and he is all about warranties. I have saved a portion of it myself by selling a lot of my DVDs.

[sherry7899]

Please check with your doctor, of course.

I think a recumbent bike would be a good choice, or a treadmill.

Does your fiance have a Proform? I had one I bought in 2000 or 2001 that changed from a recumbent bike to an elliptical. However, the elliptical was VERY shaky, not smooth at all and you could not easily adjust the tension. The tension knob was in an awkward spot for that. I ended up never using the elliptical option. The bike finally gave up just this year, though. I replaced it with a Schwinn recumbent.

Best wishes for your recovery. I am sure you will get a lot more answers.

Hugs,
Sherry

[JENILU]

Originally Posted by sherry7899

Please check with your doctor, of course.

I think a recumbent bike would be a good choice, or a treadmill.

Does your fiance have a Proform? I had one I bought in 2000 or 2001 that changed from a recumbent bike to an elliptical. However, the elliptical was VERY shaky, not smooth at all and you could not easily adjust the tension. The tension knob was in an awkward spot for that. I ended up never using the elliptical option. The bike finally gave up just this year, though. I replaced it with a Schwinn recumbent.

Best wishes for your recovery. I am sure you will get a lot more answers.

Hugs,
Sherry

I really have no idea what kind it is actually, lol. (Its at his house). I will probably stick with the treadmill idea, I just really wanted to save the money. I'll listen to the Dr, no worries, but I tend to get idiotic at times like that and trying to avoid that. The best way for me to avoid it is to find something I CAN do and focus on that or I'll go crazy. The one I was wanting was an Xterra tr3 because it was on sale very cheaply and had good shock absorption, but my cervical block didn't take quickly enough for my to get the area rearranged in time for us to buy it and it isn't on sale now. He's still willing, but I was looking at other options. I looked at the proform Performance 300 because it was their cheapest one on display, and it felt good to walk on, but got really bad reviews.

Thankyou for the thoughts. I have actually wondered about recumbant bikes?

[sherry7899]

I have a Proform treadmill that I use only for walking. It is six years old, so I doubt they sell it anymore. It was $600 on sale. It was a mid-range one. The reviews were bad for the cheapest ones, and I could not afford the higher end ones that are $1,000 and higher. I don't think they are necessary if you're not a runner, anyway....I did not care about pre-programmed workouts anyway. I never use them.

Sherry

[athompson10]

Do you have the option to walk outside instead of indoors on the treadmill? The one thing that would give me pause post-surgery with a treadmill is balance, especially if you're on painkillers. If you walk outside and are feeling woozy or start to lose your balance, you stop. If you stop on a treadmill, the belt keeps going (it still goes for a few seconds even after you hit the EMERGENCY STOP button or pull the cord). That could mean a fall, which could be disastrous post-surgery. My MIL was discouraged strongly from getting a treadmill after her (hip) surgery for that reason.

If outdoor walking won't work, maybe some Leslie Sansone walking workouts instead? You could certainly do five minutes at a time here or there.

I'm a big treadmill proponent - use mine regularly and love it (well, did love it until it broke and I'm still waiting for the repair) - but I think for the kind of careful, easy walking you want to do, non-machine-aided might be better. JMO.

[nevertoolate]

I had an abdominal hysterectomy over 20 years ago. I used a stationary bike during my recovery period. I started fairly soon after surgery (3, 4 weeks postop maybe?) and took it easy at first. My bike was a no-frills, upright model that I bought used from the physical therapy department at the hospital where I worked. You don't need anything fancy.

My best wishes for a full, quick recovery.

Ann

[PrairieGem]

No advice, just lots of good wishes... and a COMPLETE understanding of this:

I'll listen to the Dr, no worries, but I tend to get idiotic at times like that.

I was doing Firm Express THREE WEEKS after abdominal surgery. I don't recommend that. But I had nearly lost my mind from not being able to work out at all leading up to the surgery (from anemia) ,so we'll blame that on the hypoxia.

Best of luck, listen to your body... and if you won't listen to your body , listen to your doctor and your boyfriend and other sensible people in your life.

[beyond.omega]

I don't have anything help for you as personally I don't like treadmills by cause they feel funny to me, and I don't like stationary bikes cuz they are difficult for me to sit on (especially recumbants).

Just wanted to wish you the best for an uneventful surgery and easy recovery.