Originally Posted by chasm54

Just for once, this is a medical question I know something about.

I had acute appendicitis at the end of December last year. It was a laporoscopic -keyhole - operation, as I imagine yours was if you are home the day following the operation. I was off painkillers by day 3 post-op and back on the bike for the first time on day 7 post op.

That was a mistake. I felt fine on the bike but later had a recurrence of post-operative pain, so I took another week off then rode forty miles. Again, I felt the after-effects and was off the bike for several more days. It was a month post-op before I was back to riding normally and I continued to have increasingly occasional post-operative pain for four months.

I don't have much doubt that I would have done better to take a full fortnight off the bike immediately following the surgery, and that my subsequent twinges were in part due to my over-enthusiasm at the start. Having said that, I ended up being fine, and a bit of post-op pain is hardly surprising considering the fact that they have inflated your abdomen and messed around in there with a scope and, effectively, a knife and fork.

My recommendation would be to leave it a couple of weeks before you ride. Frustrating, but better than slowing your recovery, as I suspect I did. And obviously, if at any pointyou are in more pain than you think you should be, get medical advice.