Nat: It's all over but the whining!

Yesterday (November 8th) marked six weeks since my right hernia repair
surgery was performed, it sure seems longer ago, far more than just the
forty-three days signify.  As a re-cap I was diagnosed with the hernia
at least eight weeks before my surgery, I had my pre-op visit with the
surgeon six weeks prior to the surgery (over all those weeks I was
scaling back my workout loads, but still working out, right up until the
day prior to my surgery).  After the surgery (literally once I got home
from Denver) I began walking, three days after the surgery I was back at
the gym participating with trail walking and stair climbing during my
two weeks of rest/ten pound lifting limit.  After these two weeks I was
allowed to ramp up my work-outs while "being smart"?

The first week back Tim kept the reigns pretty tight on what weight he
allowed me to use and what movements were permissible....and I will tell
you it did not take but an attempt or two at: a higher box, or heavier
weight, or too row, before I backed down quickly all on my own!  It was
fairly clear what movements and weights did and did not feel
comfortable.  That was week three after my surgery - I surely thought I
would be able to do a lot more, but after a couple of workouts I was
fine with just mildly pushing the envelope.  I added back in The Ground
Floor the following week (week four after surgery), I bailed on my
attempt to add the GF on Wednesday of that week - hate to play the age
card once again, but I felt that my body was and still is requiring more
rest than normal.  I have been able to stick to my four WOD's per week
plus one to two Ground Floor visits per week since my lifting limits
were lifted.

Each day that went by, the irritation at the incision area as well as
the tack pain has been diminishing - to the point last week (week five
post-surgery) all the irritation went away for a few days...then came
Competition Night followed by a tough Saturday WOD and Ground Floor, and
the irritation returned - but each time it recurs it is at a lesser and
lesser threshold, which tells me the tack issues are resolving
themselves and hopefully very very soon I will not have any more
irritation.  There are still certain movements that cause me more mental
anguish and some pain - those being burpees, box jumps, kipping pull-ups
and sit-ups.  If I am opening up my hips properly while lifting this can
also cause some irritation - especially sumo dead lift high pulls and
snatches (which my WODS and GF's have had a lot of lately!).

I would say I am over any issues/recovery concerns at this point, so
it's all over but the whining I am doing as I start to regain my
conditioning!  This surgery went so well, so much better than even I
imagined - and I imagined a very easy surgery and recovery.  Again I
would like to review the reasons why this was such a successful surgery
- first and foremost I was in really good condition - the best ever for
me, I stayed on my regular Crossfit schedule up to the day before my
surgery (my 52nd Birthday), I got moving (two walks that evening - 1/2
mile) as soon as I got home from surgery (the anti-nausea drugs were a
big plus), got off the narc's immediately (the evening of the surgery) -
I felt so much better without the narcs and was able to deal with the
pain with x-strength Tylenol (the only drawback here was what was called
an anesthetic hangover - which made life at work hard, but did not
affect my recovery)  I got back to the gym three days after surgery -
and the support and encouragement from all of my fellow Crossfitters
along with the heavy handed coaching really kept me on track!  And then
getting right back in to my normal routine (scaling back heavily!) as
soon as my restrictions were lifted has helped to continue my speedy
recovery.  I still have a ways to go to get back my pre-diagnosis
conditioning, but the past two days the sweat has been pouring out of my
body to the degree it used to so I know I am getting my performance back
up comparatively. So at this point I'll call my re-hab a wrap and right
now I have to head back to the box for my second workout of the day -
that being a hour in ground floor.  Thanks to everyone, staying
connected with Crossfit made  this a non-event in my life, now let's see
if I can start lifting some real weight!