Thrifty1

On New Years day, I went to the emergency room after 2 days with severe abdominal pains and within 2 hours I was in surgery to remove gangrene tissue and intestine reconstruction resulting from a strangulated umbilical hernia. The scary part is that I do not recall doing anything unusual that would have caused this injury and, therefore, do not know how to preclude recurrence. Maybe this is payback for senior discounts :>)
I am confident that I have created at least a dozen new ways to grimace.
I am feeling better but upon hospital discharge, the surgeon advised against riding my trainer mounted bicycle, lifting anything over 4 pounds, etc for at least 4 possibly 6 months. My legs will be like noodles by the time I can resume riding.
My only interaction to cycling will be this forum for quite awhile so I am looking forward to your posts.

GrannyGear

No doctor here, but what about soft spinning a recumbent stationary bike as a different weight bearing position? Followng a back injury, when I couldn't sit a bike, a put in some months in the garage spinning recumbent. Long shot for you, but......

Otherwise, patience.....6 months is no lifetime--although it may well seem that way.

dbmcclus

Thrifty,

Sorry to hear about your problem/surgery. Hopefully, your recovery time will past quickly and you will be riding again soon. I had a inguinal hernia last year. I was 53 years old and wanted to get back in shape. Lost 32 pounds and am now at 150. I started doing leg presses at the gym to build up my legs. I wanted to get into cycling. A physical therapist told me to leg press what was easy for me for 30 reps and if the last ten were a little hard, that was good. Well, at 150 lbs body weight, I was leg pressing 200 lbs. Went on a cruise ship to Mexico and while on the ship I went to the gym. Got an inguinal hernia right there on the ship. It blew out a few hours later while at lunch. Still had a week left on the cruise. When I returned home, the therapist said never leg press more than your body weight. Now he tells me! I got the hernia repaired and 4 weeks later I got a bike and started riding. I hope your recover soon.

The reason I am telling this story is to alert others. If you want to build up your legs, just spin or bike, do not do leg presses. The damage is cummulative. The abdonimal muscles are weakening and you don't know it.

Dennis

jppe

Tough luck Thrifty......sorry to hear about the hernia and the extended time off the bike. While I know it's not what you want, 6 mos will be here before you know it. It will be prime riding time in your area in June and you'll have a good time getting back on the bike.

I bet with your conditioning it will be closer to 4 months so stay in touch and let us help you pass the time.

lovemyswift

I understand your frustration. I was skiing on Wed. and ran into a closed rope at the lift line. The rope was like a rubber band and catapulated me backwards, my skis caught on edge and pulled me into a v position. My bindings didn't release so I couldn't get out of my skis. A ski patroller saw me and had to lift me up to straighten me out. As a result I have a level 2 MCL tear in my right knee. Also, I may have an ACL tear and lateral menicus damage. I get an MRI on Tuesday. If the lateral menicus is torn and surgery is necessary its going to be a very long rehab.

The ortho is letting me use the trainer but I can only do about 10 min. I did get up to 45 rpm yesterday so I'm progressing.

I'm hoping the ortho gave me the worst case scenario and everything will heal nicely on its own.

Kathi

stapfam

Don't worry about the grimacing as over the next few weeks you will find a few more. Take the surgeons advice, but how about walking. To get over surgery in the stomach region- I started walking to the local paper shop- then a bit further and within two weeks I was "Power Walking" 1 mile into town, having a coffee and power walking back. Luckily I cannot stand running so never started on that method. I cannot stand walking, but when I did get out on the bike at week 8- At least my legs still worked. The shoulders were dead and my lungs had shrunk, but the real pain in the butt- was just that. 10 weeks without sitting on a saddle made me sympathise with newbies.

Thrifty1

Thanks Everyone! During my follow-up appoitment the surgeon tomorrow, I will inquire as to the normal time lapse betwwen strangulation and gangrene onset. I am building a new solid maple woodworking bench and I was pushing several 2" x 10" x 8' pieces of white maple through the table saw and that would be the only strenuous action that I can think of that might have caused this.....but that was about 2 weeks before Christmas.....and I use fore and aft rollers. Maybe it takes 2 to 3 weeks for gangrene to occur???
I have been proud of my dedication to ride my trainer (Trek 1000C/Kurt Kinetic) every morning for at least one hour.
Oh well, perseverence and patience are my only options.
Murphy (Murphy's Law) is always with me!
Thanks again.....
Gary

GrannyGear

But Gary....no need to drop off the scope here...keep posting your progress, your comments, etc. Come June (maybe May?) you'll be on the road again and can give us your impressions and share your elation.

Thrifty1

OUCH Kathi!
At least I don't have joint injuries which are relentlesslypainful (no matter how you hold your mouth) and MRI's are (for me) as close to barely tolerable as one can endure. I hope things work out for the best for you.
Good Luck!
Gary

Thrifty1

Thank you. I agree that walking (or most any physical activity) would help but I live 30 miles north of (arctic) Minot, North Dakota and lot's of ice everywhere including my driveway. I am anxious to querry my doctor about allowable therapies tomorrow. All things considered, I feel really good (no pain, good appetite, etc) which is a bit dangerous due to my inclination to be more active than appropriate. In pursuit of precluding recurrence, I will refrain/restrain.
Thanks and will keep you apprised.
Gary

Az B

I had an abdominal hernia a couple years ago. Mine never got to the stage where anything was gangrenous or even painful, my doctor spotted it before it got that serious.

But I still went under the knife to get it repaired. They used some kind of mesh to repair the tear in the abdominal wall, and it's supposed to be stronger than ever. I think I had to wait 8 weeks before I could go back to regular duty.

It's my understanding that it might not have anything to do with lifting too much or incorrectly or whatever. Some folks just have a weak spot and it'll come out sooner or later.

Good luck with the recuperation.

Az

Thrifty1

UPDATE: Upon review of the new (1-16-06) CT-scan results, my surgeon advised against riding the Trek 1000C/Kurt Kinetic trainer, walking, lifting more than 4 - 5 pounds, or "any excercise" during yesterday's post surgery follow-up. My 5 inch incision is healing beautifully but the doctor is "cautious" about the internal "stability/integrity" since a (unspecified) length of intestine was removed.....perforation or suture failure could be fatal due to intestinal bacteria etc. "At age 60 precautions are not optional with this kind of surgery"

On the brighter side I am now able to enjoy "chewable" food instead of mid to high viscosity "paste". I savored every morsel of the broiled salmon steak, bubbles and squeak, and whole wheat roll (homemade) followed by Tetley's and Scottish (good for digestion) Shortbread exquisitely prepared by my dedicated and cycling partner wife.