Hard winter of training and then my appendix goes pop!!!

Dave11

Well Lads,

Lying in the hospital bed here having had my appendix taken out last nite. Should have been signing on in Garristown for the second race of the Swords League bu instead I was being wheeled into surgery! Had strong pain in stomach and thought nothing of it until I wass nearly doubled over...call to GP....refered immediately and surgeon tells me I was 12 hours or so from it going pop altogther and that would not be fun!

After putting in a good winter and really looking forward to the start of the season they now tell me it will three weeks before I'm back out! Disaster.....I suppose the hard work will pay off as it should help me mend a bit quicker but what a kick in the b*lls!!!

Anyone else ever have the appendix out? Am I really looking at three weeks off the bike??

RobFowl

Some people will do anything to save weight !

3 weeks sounds about right TBH. You might be able to try cycling on the turbo after 7-10 days depending on how sore you are.

The muscles are divided rather than cut through (abdominal muscles) so heal quite quickly.

Beasty

Well if a medical expert says you can get on a turbo after 7 days I would take that as a signal that you'll be OK in 3!

Seriously though, I had 6 weeks off the bike with a broken wrist from February and was on the turbo within 8 days (despite a very bad gash down my leg). I probably went a bit mad (in more ways than one!) on it, but was able to get straight back into the swing of things as soon I was given the OK at hospital

Anyway, I hope the recovery goes well, and that we'll see you at the Swords races soon (you might have ended up with more than a burst appendix if you had turned up last night!)

beans

I was in exactly your position when I was 10. Operated with little time before the appendix went pop, and was recovering for around 4 days in hospital before I was strong enough to go home.

That was 20 years ago. These days, they can take it out without so much incision by all accounts. I was around 2 weeks or so before I could bathe and move around without too much pain. You'll know yourself when you're healing, listen to the doctors and don't push yourself out of bike-angst

Good luck

trad

A workmate of mine had the same appendix trouble. He was an oarsman turned racing cyclist. His op was by keyhole surgery and he was back on the bike 3 days later, not that the doctors recommended it.

Ryder

Open or keyhole surgery? Open, id def wait 3 weeks maybe even more as the core pressure from intensive cycling might lead to a hernia. Just take it easy and let it heal

Lumen

Jesus, that's a bit scary. Lad I knew at school died on the sports field with a burst appendix.

Glad you're OK. I'm quite jealous of your weight saving. 4.5g saved, that's almost a fifth of a testicle!

DirkVoodoo

My brother had his out last christmas, I think recovering from anaesthetic and the weight loss were the two things that took the most out of him.

You'll be back on the bike in no time! Just listen to the Doc and you can get your season back on track.

Dave11

Setback already....now its infected!

Doc has me back on drip and rather then getting out tomorrow it's going to be another 4-5 days possibly!! :mad:

Cheers for all the replies by the way and well wishes!!!

thebouldwhacker

Jezz that is some crap luck you got right there.... The most important thing is to 'enjoy' your time off from life. Do every thing you were putting off (I'm talking watching the 3 godfather's in one day rather than start training for a marathon) you'll be back on your bike soon enough. Hang tough and you'll enjoy your come back all the more.

Dave11

The sun has got his hat on...hip hip hip hooray.....the sun has got his hat on (kinda) and I'm coming out today!!!

Just the ok to get the hell out of here so it's all good. Three weeks of recovery now of which the doc reckons I'll be ok to get on bike after 10 days or so. Itching to get back into the saddle!

Fredo

wish you a speedy recovery

Doc_Savage

mine burst when i was 17... they thought it would be close... but it was burst...

you'll probably have internal stitches that'll have to be removed. wait till they're out and your gp gives you the ok. i was in pain for about 5 weeks after the operation. and i'd imagine any strenuous exertion would only prolong the recovery.

be patient and get better sooner! take care man!

Lumen

Hey CramCycle, cancel the order for the boards.ie tombstone, he's made it after all!

(we'll settle the bet later)

droidus

If you had keyhole surgery, ther shouldnt be any stitches to worry about. If my experience is anything to go by (hospital for 4 days - no infection), itll be a couple of weeks at least before you feel well enough to do anything strenuous.

Just take it nice and slow and easy, wait until youre eating properly and all the meds are finished.

Are you getting that weird pain in your shoulders and joints btw? Its the air they pumped in during keyhole surgery slowly escaping from your body...

RobFowl

droidus wrote: »

Are you getting that weird pain in your shoulders and joints btw? Its the air they pumped in during keyhole surgery slowly escaping from your body...

It's referred pain from the CO2 pooling under your diaphragm.
Usually pain in the right shoulder !

BULLER

Yeah there shouldn't be any stitches, just a lot of pain. I was only given panadol after I woke up from surgery. I was back home after one night incredibly (my mum was in hospital 2 weeks when she had hers out in the 60's, they must have cut her open completely!)
But it was hard not laughing for a few days, after a while everything becomes funny - very painful....

droidus

RobFowl wrote: »

It's referred pain from the CO2 pooling under your diaphragm.
Usually pain in the right shoulder !

Thats exactly it Rob, thanks. Nothing a bit or morphine cant fix...

RobFowl

droidus wrote: »

Thats exactly it Rob, thanks. Nothing a bit or morphine cant fix...

Mmmmmmm Morphine

Remember having my appendix out and got morphine afterwards. Felt like I was floating 6 feet above the bed.

cdaly_

droidus wrote: »

Its the air they pumped in during keyhole surgery slowly escaping from your body...

Ooh! I wonder can you use that for roadside puncture repairs?...

Dave11

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Went to see surgeon today and it's getting bloody worse not better!! Thw wound was weeping over the weekend and I thought it was part of the healing process....turns out it's not!! Another bloody infection! :mad:

Got it sorted supposedly and now looking at another two weeks out and was told under no circumstances was I to get on the bike!

This is so frustrating! It will have been five weeks by the time I'm back on the bike!

I'm still fairly new to cycling having only got into it full-time last July. Can anyone tell me what sort of condition my legs will be in after five weeks off? I did a very good winter I think and I'm hoping that stands to me but am i looking at nearly starting all over again or what? Is five weeks just to much time off.... Advice required please!!

Lumen

Dave11 wrote: »

I'm still fairly new to cycling having only got into it full-time last July. Can anyone tell me what sort of condition my legs will be in after five weeks off? I did a very good winter I think and I'm hoping that stands to me but am i looking at nearly starting all over again or what? Is five weeks just to much time off.... Advice required please!!

Just relax and get better. You have the rest of your life to improve at cycling, five weeks won't make much difference.

bcmf

Dave11 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what sort of condition my legs will be in after five weeks off?

your legs will be the least of your worries if you dont look after that wound.You will have late summer and autumn to build as a base to do some hard winter training and be flying for the start of nxt year. Get better first

RobFowl

+1 on Lumen and BCMF's advice.

Get better first.
Make sure you're eating well and getting lots of fruit, veg and oily fish (Mackerel/salmon etc) and consider a multivitamin and maybe vitamin c/zinc/echinechea supplements.