New member of survivor club
Comments
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T-W., you have it right. Yes, I do think Gary had the right approach. Another way to look at this is,...In 6 months, will it have mattered if you got back to normal activity in 4 weeks or 10 weeks? Not likely. Again, you are not trying to peak for a marathon. Pushing is not how to improve. Slow progress allows your body to say, "Hey what I did today was OK. I'm not hurting myself. Doing it again tomorrow is not a threat to my well being." When I felt a little better after surgery, I went through my regular ex. routine without weights. Actually did presses and curls with nothing. Same motions as usual. Little by little, it all returned. If I had pushed, then It could have been several weeks longer. People talk of "muscle memory" like in a golf swing. Muscles don't remember anything. Your nervous system does. Give it good feedback. It will allow you to reproduce previous performance when it isn't in protective mode. (lots of golf analagies here.) This is the point to remember. ...."Practice doesn't make perfect unless you practice right."Texas_wedge said:foxhd and Gary - thanks, my friends. What a boon to have a pro. on board.
I imagine fox will approve pretty much of how Gary went about it. I hope so because it represents very much what I had in mind for my own rehab. The temp. here unexpectedly shot up to 9C this afternoon (newcomers to Scotland, dismayed by wind/rain/snow, are often told 'If you don't like the Scottish weather, wait ten minutes!' ) so my Wife and I took a walk. She uses the excellent iPhone app. Runkeeper Pro and it revealed that we walked 3.12 miles in just over 1hour 35 minutes and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.
The meds masking issue is very much on my mind and I may defer doing any weights work until I've seen my GP, reviewed my morphine dose level and had his thoughts on the topic. Fortunately he's got a lot of rehab experience with national level pro sportsmen so I'd be daft not to heed his advice.
I tend to be a bit too cavalier and need to remember the difference between being macho and being too macho (=stupid). So I'll take to heart fox's "A conservative approach will produce maximum results." and garym's "slow and steady produced the best results." I guess you could regard that as a consensus!0 -
Muscle lostfoxhd said:T-W., you have it right. Yes, I do think Gary had the right approach. Another way to look at this is,...In 6 months, will it have mattered if you got back to normal activity in 4 weeks or 10 weeks? Not likely. Again, you are not trying to peak for a marathon. Pushing is not how to improve. Slow progress allows your body to say, "Hey what I did today was OK. I'm not hurting myself. Doing it again tomorrow is not a threat to my well being." When I felt a little better after surgery, I went through my regular ex. routine without weights. Actually did presses and curls with nothing. Same motions as usual. Little by little, it all returned. If I had pushed, then It could have been several weeks longer. People talk of "muscle memory" like in a golf swing. Muscles don't remember anything. Your nervous system does. Give it good feedback. It will allow you to reproduce previous performance when it isn't in protective mode. (lots of golf analagies here.) This is the point to remember. ...."Practice doesn't make perfect unless you practice right."
I lost one-third of my abdominal muscles below the nearly 30cm open nephrectomy incision, you can tell by the un-evenly deflated belly. They started to grow slowly back recently (after more than 3 years). But that part of skin still feel numb as of today, I guess that part of nerve was damaged when they made the cut.
Jon0 -
I just have to repeat - what a boon it is to have a pro on board!foxhd said:T-W., you have it right. Yes, I do think Gary had the right approach. Another way to look at this is,...In 6 months, will it have mattered if you got back to normal activity in 4 weeks or 10 weeks? Not likely. Again, you are not trying to peak for a marathon. Pushing is not how to improve. Slow progress allows your body to say, "Hey what I did today was OK. I'm not hurting myself. Doing it again tomorrow is not a threat to my well being." When I felt a little better after surgery, I went through my regular ex. routine without weights. Actually did presses and curls with nothing. Same motions as usual. Little by little, it all returned. If I had pushed, then It could have been several weeks longer. People talk of "muscle memory" like in a golf swing. Muscles don't remember anything. Your nervous system does. Give it good feedback. It will allow you to reproduce previous performance when it isn't in protective mode. (lots of golf analagies here.) This is the point to remember. ...."Practice doesn't make perfect unless you practice right."
The received wisdom is that you can tell a serious athlete by the way he behaves when he's injured. The longer term view that you've suggested makes perfect sense.
I'm banking on the MDX-1106 to ensure that you're around for a very long while and continuing to help others with both your common-sense and your professional expertise.
Thanks again Fox.0 -
Baby stepsfoxhd said:T-W., you have it right. Yes, I do think Gary had the right approach. Another way to look at this is,...In 6 months, will it have mattered if you got back to normal activity in 4 weeks or 10 weeks? Not likely. Again, you are not trying to peak for a marathon. Pushing is not how to improve. Slow progress allows your body to say, "Hey what I did today was OK. I'm not hurting myself. Doing it again tomorrow is not a threat to my well being." When I felt a little better after surgery, I went through my regular ex. routine without weights. Actually did presses and curls with nothing. Same motions as usual. Little by little, it all returned. If I had pushed, then It could have been several weeks longer. People talk of "muscle memory" like in a golf swing. Muscles don't remember anything. Your nervous system does. Give it good feedback. It will allow you to reproduce previous performance when it isn't in protective mode. (lots of golf analagies here.) This is the point to remember. ...."Practice doesn't make perfect unless you practice right."
"Another way to look at this is,...In 6 months, will it have mattered if you got back to normal activity in 4 weeks or 10 weeks? Not likely."
foxhd,
This is exactly my philosophy for getting back on the bike. 28 years riding without a break means I can use this time to heal slowly and everything will be fine down the road. Thanks.
David0 -
Muscle lostjhsu said:Muscle lost
I lost one-third of my abdominal muscles below the nearly 30cm open nephrectomy incision, you can tell by the un-evenly deflated belly. They started to grow slowly back recently (after more than 3 years). But that part of skin still feel numb as of today, I guess that part of nerve was damaged when they made the cut.
Jon
Jon, I'm a little curious to know exactly what you mean in terms of your muscle loss, so maybe we can compare notes. Was yours left or right kidney and where was the incision made?
I had a right nephrectomy 18 days ago. It started as a lap. but had to be changed mid-stream (quite a big stream, I'm told!) to open surgery. Apart from the 3 little lap. wounds, I have an incision that, after deflation, now measures 22cm. It starts 4cm. above my navel and 8cm. right of it and runs horizontally round to roughly below my right armpit.
It sounds to me as if yours may have been a lot lower. I'll get it confirmed soon but I think they had to go into my torso a lot higher than they'd expected.
My bodyweight is now 3 or 4 pounds less than before my op. and my waist is down to 32 1/2 inches - only slightly larger than it was. I've regained definition on abs. and oblique muscles to pretty near normal and was able to sleep comfortably on the incision last night.
It sounds to me that I've been lucky so far in the sequelae I've had from my op. and that you were not so lucky. Could you tell me a bit more about your op. I hope you eventually get back to fully normal feelings but some of these things take a while to come right.
T.0 -
You are all welcome. This is what this forum is about. I often tell people that what you do to recover is important, but it is knowing HOW to get better that is the trick of the trade.DMike said:Baby steps
"Another way to look at this is,...In 6 months, will it have mattered if you got back to normal activity in 4 weeks or 10 weeks? Not likely."
foxhd,
This is exactly my philosophy for getting back on the bike. 28 years riding without a break means I can use this time to heal slowly and everything will be fine down the road. Thanks.
David0 -
Similar boat...
Hey David,
Just read your post... I'm in a similar boat. Just had a 3.5 cm tumor removed from my left kidney, on 29 Dec. Still recovering.
I'm a triathlete and completed the IRONMAN Arizona course on 20 Nov, 2011 ... So weird to be diagnosed and in surgery only a few weeks after completing a 140.6 mile race.
I go back to see my surgeon next week... Hope I get a similar good report!
Rick0 -
Triathlonearnric said:Similar boat...
Hey David,
Just read your post... I'm in a similar boat. Just had a 3.5 cm tumor removed from my left kidney, on 29 Dec. Still recovering.
I'm a triathlete and completed the IRONMAN Arizona course on 20 Nov, 2011 ... So weird to be diagnosed and in surgery only a few weeks after completing a 140.6 mile race.
I go back to see my surgeon next week... Hope I get a similar good report!
Rick
Just shows how sneaky KC is - complete the Arizona IRONMAN and have major surgery less than 6 weeks later. Don't enter for any more 140 m. races for a bit yet, please! However, you're well placed for a complete and rapid recovery.
I'm probably not alone in wondering how soon after the race you got the diagnosis and what led to the investigation that threw it up.0 -
triathalonearnric said:Similar boat...
Hey David,
Just read your post... I'm in a similar boat. Just had a 3.5 cm tumor removed from my left kidney, on 29 Dec. Still recovering.
I'm a triathlete and completed the IRONMAN Arizona course on 20 Nov, 2011 ... So weird to be diagnosed and in surgery only a few weeks after completing a 140.6 mile race.
I go back to see my surgeon next week... Hope I get a similar good report!
Rick
Impressive stuff. Good luck. Goes to show that being an athlete or even just being in good shape isn't enough to keep away the cancer demon. I have a friend who is fat, lazy, and actually does call watching tv his hobby. Always says to me," I don't care how much you exercise, I'm gonna outlive you anyway. Everyone in my family lives into their 90's" He is so lazy, that he will actually ask you what time it is even when he is wearing a watch just so he doesn't have to go through the effort of looking at it. True story.0 -
Kindred spiritearnric said:Similar boat...
Hey David,
Just read your post... I'm in a similar boat. Just had a 3.5 cm tumor removed from my left kidney, on 29 Dec. Still recovering.
I'm a triathlete and completed the IRONMAN Arizona course on 20 Nov, 2011 ... So weird to be diagnosed and in surgery only a few weeks after completing a 140.6 mile race.
I go back to see my surgeon next week... Hope I get a similar good report!
Rick
Hi Rick,
I understand how it feels to hear you have the big C when you know you have taken great care of yourself. It sucks, but being in shape will help us recover faster and get back on the bike (in the water, on the road also for you) sooner. I just finished my morning 1 mile walk and it gets easier everyday. Hang in there.
I go back to see my surgeon next week too. We should put together our plan for future CT scans etc. at that time. And I can talk to him about slowly getting back on the bike. I hope to be riding again in March.
I hope everything goes well for you and you have a good report!
--David0 -
Taking care...DMike said:Kindred spirit
Hi Rick,
I understand how it feels to hear you have the big C when you know you have taken great care of yourself. It sucks, but being in shape will help us recover faster and get back on the bike (in the water, on the road also for you) sooner. I just finished my morning 1 mile walk and it gets easier everyday. Hang in there.
I go back to see my surgeon next week too. We should put together our plan for future CT scans etc. at that time. And I can talk to him about slowly getting back on the bike. I hope to be riding again in March.
I hope everything goes well for you and you have a good report!
--David
Thanks all...
Yea, you think you are in great shape and then you get this diagnosis... Talk about taking the wind out of you.
As for how I found out: I went to the doc about 2 weeks after the race because of some new, persistent stomach problems. Thought I might have gotten a bug from the lake water during the long swim... She ordered a CT scan for my gall bladder and that's when they found the 3.5cm mass. I was pretty amazed.
I just wanted it out of me asap. The hardest part was forcing myself to consult a couple of different surgeons. I finally decided on the robotic laproscopic partial (saving as much of the kidney as possible). The surgery went well, but I developed an ileus on the day I was supposed to go home -- and I started vomiting (day 2 after surgery). Talk about horrible. Anyway, I had to spend 3 more nights in the hospital until I could get some food down.
I hope you get back on the bike soon! While I won't be doing an IRONMAN this year, I hope to be able to compete in some olympic distance events by summer... even tho I won't be in great shape.0 -
PRO IRONMANearnric said:Taking care...
Thanks all...
Yea, you think you are in great shape and then you get this diagnosis... Talk about taking the wind out of you.
As for how I found out: I went to the doc about 2 weeks after the race because of some new, persistent stomach problems. Thought I might have gotten a bug from the lake water during the long swim... She ordered a CT scan for my gall bladder and that's when they found the 3.5cm mass. I was pretty amazed.
I just wanted it out of me asap. The hardest part was forcing myself to consult a couple of different surgeons. I finally decided on the robotic laproscopic partial (saving as much of the kidney as possible). The surgery went well, but I developed an ileus on the day I was supposed to go home -- and I started vomiting (day 2 after surgery). Talk about horrible. Anyway, I had to spend 3 more nights in the hospital until I could get some food down.
I hope you get back on the bike soon! While I won't be doing an IRONMAN this year, I hope to be able to compete in some olympic distance events by summer... even tho I won't be in great shape.
Rick,
Don't worry too much about it, but listen very closely to what your body has to say to you just like the constant feedbacks during the course of one of your endurance races.
I have stage IV RCC with radical removal of the left kidney and partial left lung wedged out in May 2008. I done my 2nd 1/2 marathon in Nov the same year. And finished my 1st full marathon in March the next year. And I just finished another marathon this weekend.
Life is fair to everybody in this context, athletes or not. Whatever happened to us already happened, put it in behind and live on.
Jon0 -
Thxjhsu said:PRO IRONMAN
Rick,
Don't worry too much about it, but listen very closely to what your body has to say to you just like the constant feedbacks during the course of one of your endurance races.
I have stage IV RCC with radical removal of the left kidney and partial left lung wedged out in May 2008. I done my 2nd 1/2 marathon in Nov the same year. And finished my 1st full marathon in March the next year. And I just finished another marathon this weekend.
Life is fair to everybody in this context, athletes or not. Whatever happened to us already happened, put it in behind and live on.
Jon
Thx Jon...
I'm gonna do just that: listen to my body and slowly get back into training. I hope to be able to race later this season (oly distance), but I won't push it.
Man, stage IV ... With some lung removal. That had to be a rough recovery. Sounds like you are doing AWESOME now tho ...
Once I get past this first post-op visit, I think I'll have an easier time of putting this episode behind me.
Thx for the encouraging words!
Rick0 -
Slowly, slowly catchee monkeyearnric said:Thx
Thx Jon...
I'm gonna do just that: listen to my body and slowly get back into training. I hope to be able to race later this season (oly distance), but I won't push it.
Man, stage IV ... With some lung removal. That had to be a rough recovery. Sounds like you are doing AWESOME now tho ...
Once I get past this first post-op visit, I think I'll have an easier time of putting this episode behind me.
Thx for the encouraging words!
Rick
Many, even comparatively young, patients find it takes them anything up to about a year to really get back to normal. Now you're at the other extreme, being superfit and perfectly equipped for optimum recovery. BUT, if you get tempted to push your luck remember 2 things:
(a) read what happened to another superfit athlete msacher63 - Mark laid it out in the opening entry in his thread "getting tired"
(b) if you start to overdo it we'll set the foxhd on you and you wouldn't want him tearing into you, now would you? :-)0 -
The fox...Texas_wedge said:Slowly, slowly catchee monkey
Many, even comparatively young, patients find it takes them anything up to about a year to really get back to normal. Now you're at the other extreme, being superfit and perfectly equipped for optimum recovery. BUT, if you get tempted to push your luck remember 2 things:
(a) read what happened to another superfit athlete msacher63 - Mark laid it out in the opening entry in his thread "getting tired"
(b) if you start to overdo it we'll set the foxhd on you and you wouldn't want him tearing into you, now would you? :-)
The Texas...
I'll definately look up those posts by msacher63. I see my surgeon Thur so we'll see what he says about running/swimming/biking. I'm sure I'll have to wait another 3 weeks or so before even jogging.
Thx for the tips!
Rick0
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