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Post-op Recovery

Old 12-26-11, 12:31 PM
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Post-op Recovery

I've been training quite hard for the last 18 months, and though I am hardly Olympic fit I was doing pretty well (35lbs lighter, up to ~240W on my 30 minute TT on my computrainer - really the best shape I have been in for a decade at least). Then I blew out my neck a couple of weeks ago (not really biking related) to the point where surgery is my only viable option. Once they are done fusing my spine together, I shouldn't have any lasting damage according to the surgeon, so I will be cleared to go back to my normal exercise regime (although sadly no snowboarding this year), but I'm curious about how much fitness deteriorates over time.

Does anyone with any experience of such things know how my my fitness will suffer as a result of taking several weeks of what will likely be a more or less sedentary lifestyle (I've already been off for a week and a half)? I will be seeking the advice of the trained medical professionals on this as well, but does anyone know how long it can take to bounce back from a few weeks of inactivity and (hopefully) moderate surgery? I'm only 35, so hopefully I'm still young enough to bounce back from this relatively fast.

Any other helpful post-op suggestions? Never been anywhere near a surgeon before now, so I have no idea what to expect.

Thanks,

Dave
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Old 12-28-11, 02:24 AM
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Well Dave, I had a kidney transplant almost two years ago. Prior to the transplant, I was very ill, but fit enough to ride for 30 miles within a two hour span non-stop with 20 mins of warm up and cool down as part of that workout. I was at 145 during that time. A week after the transplant, I was at 139, then to at 155 about a month afterwards. Today, I'm still at about 153, as I guess that's my 1.5 kidney base weight (150-155). I had to take off two months of riding and didn't reach 160 during my adjustment to getting a new kidney. Now I can dominate 40+ rides with no problem after a full year of constant riding, it just took alot of work to get back into it after having such a dramatic change in my body because of the operation.

What I'm saying is. If it does suffer, there's nothing but time to get it back together.
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Old 01-06-12, 10:51 PM
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Well, hate to reply to my own thread, but since someone might be interested I shall carry it on.

I had the ACDF surgery on wednesday (only a one-level - I feel for the folks who get 2 or 3 done). They chipped a chunk of my hip off, opened up my neck, scraped some stuff out and then nailed some spine together. I now officially contain more titanium than my bike does.

Based upon what I can see online, I am recovering somewhat faster than normal (there's something to being fit, there really is). I got back on the bike yesterday for the first time, and did a nice easy 30 minutes at 160 watts. I could do more, and go longer, but it was surprising just how much it kicked my ass so I took it pretty easy. I'm going to avoid overdoing things and just keep it to 30-45 minutes for the next week or so, but I should be back over 200W within a couple of weeks based on how I'm feeling now. A full recover is likely to take a few weeks from that, but this isn't the complete destruction of my fitness level yet.

Dave
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Old 01-07-12, 11:36 AM
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Glad to hear that. Are you doing any strength training, callisthenics, stretches, etc? Just curious what the protocols are after a spinal surgery.

Good luck and hope you're back to normal soon.
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Old 01-07-12, 04:38 PM
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Everyone is different, and as far as I know it really is determined at the follow-up a couple of weeks post-surgery (mine is set for Thursday) as to how much physical therapy is required, and the type. Since the disc herniation that I had was seriously interfering with the nerves going to my right arm, and I had lost >50% of the strength in my tricep when tested by the surgeon initially it is likely that I will be concentrating on that. I have to say though, since he released the nerve (and almost certainly because I didn't mess around scheduling the surgery - I wasn't going to wait for a couple of months just to see if things got any better on their own) my right arm feels at least 95% better, so I'm not entirely sure what I shall need to do yet. Since my surgeon appears to be extremely competent I shall be taking whatever recommendation that he has.

At <2 weeks post surgery right now though, strength training and anything that pushes my range of motion is entirely out - the first weeks are about making sure the bone fuses properly, and I'm not supposed to pick up anything heavier than 10lbs, let alone benching my usual 350 (joke). The surgeon is fine with walking and biking right now though, since they strengthen the neck muscles and surrounding area without putting too much stress on the upper spine. Biking outside is definitely out of the question though, since the risk of a very very serious neck injury if I was to come off badly just isn't worth it, but since it took me about 3 hours to cable everything up to the computrainer the bike isn't going outside in the cold until at least April now anyway.

Dave
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Old 01-07-12, 10:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Deademeat
I am recovering somewhat faster than normal (there's something to being fit, there really is).
Yes there is. After I had my kidney transplant, I was in and out of the post-op clinic within two weeks and then back in college. Iwould have been out earlier if I didn't get pneumonia during the stay in the hospital. Most of the people in the clinic where still in clinic after a month.
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Old 01-12-12, 07:38 PM
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Originally Posted by locolobo13
Glad to hear that. Are you doing any strength training, callisthenics, stretches, etc? Just curious what the protocols are after a spinal surgery.

Good luck and hope you're back to normal soon.
Well I had my first surgical follow up today at 2 weeks - I have pretty much normal strength in my arm again and the pain is now manageable with the occasional Tylenol, so very little of interest to report. I'm back on my bike for 30 minutes a day (probably back to 45 starting tomorrow), doing intervals up to 200W (I get winded a lot more easily than I did before, but it has been a few weeks) - biking and walking is what I need to be doing right now according to the surgeon. For the next 3 months I am just minimizing my neck movement and exercising as much as I feel I am able, and at the 3 month mark, once the fusion has had a decent chance to take I will be doing some PT to work on range of motion of my neck, but thats about it. So far so good. I'm also doing a bit of a study tonight into whether ice cream and beer speed recovery.

Dave
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Old 01-12-12, 08:17 PM
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What about a beer and ice cream float?
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Old 02-08-12, 07:08 PM
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Glad to hear your recovery is going well. I had a one level fusion in my neck in early October and was released to ride outdoors a few weeks ago. It feels tight after about 30 minutes between the shoulder blades and the base of my neck so far. I hope that is simply from not riding or doing much of anything for 6 months (3 pre-op and 3 post-op) except walking. Time will tell.
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Old 02-09-12, 05:11 PM
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I still have a little pain to deal with around the centre of my left shoulder-blade, but that only seems to be a problem when I wake up and I can easily walk it off. The rest of the time I would say I am back to 100% again. I was on the computrainer on Saturday and Sunday for nearly two hours each day, and I managed my first hour averaging over 210W yesterday, so training-wise I am as good as I ever hoped I would be at 5 weeks post-op (and TBH almost as good as I ever was). It did take me a couple of weeks of biking to get back into it without any pain, so just ease in gently and see how it goes.

At my current rate of recovery I'm really not sure what I am going to get out of PT in 5 weeks time, but I guess I shall wait and see.

Dave
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Old 09-10-12, 08:50 PM
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I figure I may as well cap this thread off for completeness, if anyone else is wondering about this surgery and wants some reassurance.

Its been about 8 months since I got cut, and I am now back at 100%. No pain whatsoever at any time of the day, back to training 4 or 5 days a week, and I am now fitter than I was before.

I've bought a Lynskey (sexy times), bought a Garmin, started using Strava and got my first KOM today, as well as a personal record sprint segment at 27.5 mph.

That last piece was meant to provide reassurance that people can make it through spinal surgery and make it out the other side without any permanent problems, and nothing to do with narcissistc preening. I swear.

Dave
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Old 09-11-12, 12:20 AM
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Good job!!! What was the progression of your training until you got to 4-5 rides a day? Also, how long were the rides until now?
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Old 09-11-12, 04:06 PM
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Originally Posted by eddiepliers
Good job!!! What was the progression of your training until you got to 4-5 rides a day? Also, how long were the rides until now?
4-5 rides a day? I think my training will have to progress quite a bit before I reach that particular milestone. And I may have to quit my day job...

Assuming you mean 4-5 rides per week, I think I was trying to hit that quite early on (maybe 10-12 weeks post op), but that doesn't mean I was going for very long or very hard.

My progression looked something like:

First 5 months:
Just get back onto the trainer for as long as my neck felt good (which started at ~20 minutes or so) a couple of times a week.
3-4 times a week on the computrainer just getting my heart rate up into zone 3 for 30 minutes or so.
Increase to 4-5 times per week, and increasing ride length back up to at least an hour.
Increase training intensity to get power back on hour long rides. Occasionally throw in a 2 hour ride.

Next five months:
Mothball the computrainer unless it's raining and I'm not in the mood to get wet.
Hit my regular 17.5 mile loop 4-5 times a week.
Increase the distance on the weekend rides so that I am doing 60-80 miles over the weekend, and two or three shorter rides over the week. Alternate between Lynskey and single speed.

It's not exactly scientific, but I seem to have come out the other side more or less unscathed except for a cool scar.

Dave
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