it rained this morning, so my husband and i took a walk after dinner. Humidity had dropped a bit, but breathing (exercise induced asthma) was still difficult on the uphills. We saw 2 deer and marveled at how they leaped over the rows of tobacco plants in a nearby field without touching a single leaf, or so it looked from our perspective.

@sabine66, Welcome to the group! We are all at varying stages of repair and the healing for anything you can imagine! We try to encourage each other along the 'walk' to improved health. Being that you are just 2 weeks post op, you are great to add walking to your daily healthy habits. I am going to guess that you used to walk with Benji before the surgery. Am I correct? I'll be interested to hear if you begin to feel less winded after repeated days of walking.

Yes, our daily walks has always been something Benji and I have looked forward too. I started walking around my backyard the day after surgery, knowing how important it is to get up and move. Just frustrated that even two weeks later I am still feeling weak and was expecting to be a lot better by now! Patience has never been my strong suit, and having all these new limitations such as limited Range of motion, lifting restrictions and overall being weaker is getting to me. Making me wonder if I will ever be myself again!!

@sabina66 How long ago did you have your surgery? Are you doing to much ? Don't push it Do you do deep breathing exercises? Be careful

My surgery was two weeks ago, not doing deep breathing exercises as I should i am afraid. Was doing better after the first surgery three month ago. I believe having to wear an abdominal binder, and all the compression garments is making harder for me, feeling so constricted all the time.

@sabina66 You are just a recent surgery . I think you are doing great to be walking that far The compression garments would make it hard to breath . Well when you don't have it on do you do deep breathing? this will certainly help the lungs. The word is patients now it takes the body time to heal don't rush it or you could hurt yourself . Take care

Such a smart and person centered surgeon, nice that your experience was a positive one.

@lioness rightly suggested that you do your deep breathing exercises. You really want to get the anesthesia out of your system and wake up your lungs! Were you given an inspirometer after surgery? If not, maybe you can call the surgeons office and ask for one. They are really lifesavers. All the compression garments are great but they can work against your lungs. Now that I have finished my nurse lecture, can I ask what your surgery was

Today I walked around 2 big box home improvement stores, without my cane! I was just so tickled probably would have broken in to a Fred Astaire/Gene Kelly tap dance if given the chance! Took the cane with me "just in case", and could have used it to enforce social distancing ;))

There was a mother/daughter duo wearing their masks around their necks, instead of in place. I told the her, "Shame on you. Setting a poor example of following state mandates." She was p***ed at me, my husband was exasperated. Hey, you can expect that from me in those settings.
Ginger

@becsbuddy . I haven't had any surgery since 96 but thats what I had . Sure did help alot

@gingerw, Big Congrats on your walk in store without cane! Like your idea for distance enforcement too! Hubby might have feared having to come to your bodily defense??? There are a lot of erratic behaviors out there right now but sounds like you had situations well in hand. Small toe tap in your honor!

Hmm…There may be a few short walks in store for me today. Walked out to shake out a rug at 7am – about 85F with sky-high humidity.
Yesterday as I headed out for my walk, I got an text from my daughter – she had an on-line meeting and two rambunctious boys to wrangle, so I spent the morning and early afternoon playing in their yard with them. I took a heat-abbreviated walk in the afternoon, and finished my exercise by going out in the evening and mowing the last 1/4 of our lawn. I took one look at my husband after his morning-long bike ride (before the heat hit) and decided he had enough activity for one day. Except for the $%^& splint on my hand, it felt good – I have enjoyed taking my turn at doing our 1/4 acre of grass ever since he got a lighter, more maneuverable mower.
I absolutely cannot believe the difference in my energy and activity compared to the last 3 summers, when I was basically useless, struggling through each day doing the minimum. I must have had my lung infections for at least 2 years before diagnosis, then 18+ months of antibiotic treatments that wiped me out… I am grateful every day.
Sue

@sueinmn I leave the lawn mowing to my husband; he really likes the one we have, that automatically adjusts speed to your walk. Our lawn is too uneven with my bad knee. Instead, today we are pulling the utility trailer around corner to north side of the property, to load in chopped blackberry canes. Then when the pallets of retaining wall bricks are delivered, I will start figuring out my two raised planters and edging my Seger pile. That should do for my walking today!

Glad to hear you see a difference in your energy levels, for the better.
Ginger

@sabine66 I don't know what kind of surgery you had, but I am post-op from my June 9th back fusion from T-10 to my pelvis. I just got off of pain pills like my surgeon wanted me too. I can understand that Patience is not your strong suit, it's not mine either. I am suppose to do short walk several times a day, but I can't know. I kept noticing that my right foot was shorter that the left. The surgeon suggested a shoe lift. One I get it I will get back to walking. My right knee hurts and I keep on having spasms in my right foot, which I never had before.
Take care of yourself, I know it's not easy. I'm still weak in my legs too.

I had a mastectomy with axillary dissection back in April, with resulted in developing Lymphedema in my left arm and shoulder pain which I now know is from a ligament tear in my shoulder which occurred during surgery, two weeks ago I had reconstruction with fat crafting. This was suppose to be the easier surgery, however seems like I am harder time recovering. I can’t tolerate pain medication so habe been using kinesiology taping and manual lymph drainage massages to control swelling. I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing muscle spasms after surgery and pain in your knee, hope you will get answers and help with the pain You are experiencing.

@sabine66, A dear friend suffered with extreme lymphedema following her breast and lymph node surgery as well. She saw a therapist who did both manual massage and applied first a pull on compression sleeve and when that became too difficult, changed to an adjustable one which could be easily removed for "breathers" and "showers". The manual massage, and adjustable sleeve helped bring down the swelling. She also experienced difficulty with pain meds so I am wishing you the very best for a swelling reduction and more comfort as you progress with your recovery.