I coach my son's basketball team and the playoffs start on 3/2. My surgery is 2/28. Will I be able to coach (basically walking/sitting on the bench). Just curious if it really just is a pain tolerance or are my movements supposed to be restricted.

Thanks

I had my surgery on friday and went back to work on Monday (office work). But you really get tired quick.

You should be ok just make sure you are drinking your fluids during the game! My surgery was last Wednesday and by Sunday I was walking all over. You do get tired easily in the beginning though. The Doctors actually encourage movement because of the air inside you and to avoid blood clots. I had soreness in my stomach for a few days but by the 4th day it didn't hurt too much.

My recovery has been a bit different then your guises. Before my surgery I was expecting a three or four day recovery but that's not how it's gone for me. I had my surgery on Thursday February 7. I stayed at my moms until Monday night so she could watch my daughter. I was less tired by Monday but still in a lot of pain. My right side the incision went through the muscle and that still hurts. I wasn't able to wear anything but jammies for a week post-op. most of my issues had to do with my incision sites. They give you blood thinners to avoid blood clots and for me that made my healing a lot slower. My incisions bled for days. The doctor said I had a little more bleeding and swelling then normal. I'm 12 days post-op and I don't think I would be up to standing walking and coaching. I find it hard just to go shopping. Standing for any length of time is hard. Bending is hard. Driving was really painful for about a week. Hopefully you will bounce back as well as these others but my best advise would be to make sure that you have someone that can cover for you if your not up to it. I'm not saying this to make you worry or anything but I really wish I had heard someone have a rougher experience so I had a wider frame of reference. After three days I was so upset that I wasn't up and around I think that made things worse. One thing that has been great is my stomach, I haven't had any nausea or upset and I've been able to transition earlier through the stages of food and I'm dropping weight faster then I could have expected. Good luck!

All good posts. And having a back-up plan is key. Everyone's body heals differently, but I like to see some who have rebounded quickly (whether it is a false hope, it gives me hope that I can do it). Plus I have a pre-op meeting with my Dr. on Thursday and will also discuss.

I am also a basketball coach, my surgery was 2/7/13. I went home on 2/9/13 and I went to coach later that afternoon. Granted, I was A LOT calmer than normal and didn't do as much pacing. But I was capable. I had taken some Loritab a bit earlier in the day. Went home after and slept. AND WE WON. Everyone is different although. I had great success and was relatively pain free in hospital, except gassy. I walked more than 2 miles a day while in the hospital and I think that helped. Good Luck!!!

Wow slimjones. I'm impressed that you didn't have pain. When I woke up the first thing that was killing me was actually my back between my shoulder blades and up my right shoulder and neck. My stomach also felt like it was in a vise but they wouldn't give me any pain meds until I lied and said that my stomach felt better. Once I got the pain meds it got better! I was only in hospital for one night and thankfully I was at a private clinic so there was me and one other person in the clinic over night with two nurses so I had one on one help. I had to negotiate my pain meds so I would do laps around the ward to get them. They kept putting these stupid leg things on that contracted every 30 seconds when I lied down. I hated these! They where to help prevent blood clots. I sat up in a recliner most of the night until they said that I would need to put those stupid legs things on no matter if I was lying down or sitting up so I opted for a bed. They didnt have any tvs in the rooms which was annoying. I couldn't sleep. They gave me liquid Vicodin which we don't have in canada and I had an immediate allergic reaction so they have me Benadryl. To add injury to insult they didnt trust I was allergic so they made me take it again and I broke out in hives head to toe. I got more Benadryl but I was completely wired. I was getting diloten through my Iv. They finally called the doctor to see how to help me with pain. Apparently shoulder pain is normal but back pain is not common. The doctor told me that the stomach rests on the spine so that combined with the gas was the cause of my back pain. By the next morning my back was fine. They didnt want me to take my normal sleeping medication but I did anyway, I needed to sleep and the doctor said it was ok. I finally got some sleep when I stuffed Cotten balls in my ear and took sleeping pills. Long and short of it was that the first day sucked. Then I was released with 5 prescriptions. I had to go to three pharmacies before I found one that had everything and then it cost over $400 for the meds and I only got 30 pain meds. I was through that in two days and had to go to a walk in clinic to get more up here in canada. Day two I had to shop for hours to get all the stuff I didnt know I needed and then I had a two hour drive and a border wait. All in all the first few days where rough. I'm jealous of all you that recovered so quick! I think my story is the exception, not the rule.