Getting Back on the Bike After an Operation.

[ianbarton]

I am 61 and up until the end of January, I was cycling around 100 miles per week. Just before Christmas I was diagnosed with bowel cancer and had an operation to remove the affected bit of bowel on January 25th. Post op I was unable to eat anything for about 8 days and managed to pick up a chest infection.

I have been back home for about a week and am gradually building up to walking over the fields. At the moment I can manage about half a mile at a snail's pace. I have lost about 10kg in weight, which given I was skinny before means that quite a bit of muscle loss.

Definitely not ready to get back on the bike yet, but would appreciate any advice on building up legs. Currently doing laps up and down the stairs, plus walking.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I am 61 and up until the end of January, I was cycling around 100 miles per week. Just before Christmas I was diagnosed with bowel cancer and had an operation to remove the affected bit of bowel on January 25th. Post op I was unable to eat anything for about 8 days and managed to pick up a chest infection.

I have been back home for about a week and am gradually building up to walking over the fields. At the moment I can manage about half a mile at a snail's pace. I have lost about 10kg in weight, which given I was skinny before means that quite a bit of muscle loss.

Definitely not ready to get back on the bike yet, but would appreciate any advice on building up legs. Currently doing laps up and down the stairs, plus walking.

My advice would be to try a recumbent trike.

 

[Bimble]

Sorry to hear about the cancer and hope it all goes well from here onwards. 25th Jan wasn't all that long ago, so I'm guessing you'll still have a fair bit of healing to do and don't want to go overdoing it, but I can understand wanting to get back on your bike, and the fresh air and exercise can be healing in its own way sometimes as it lifts your spirits and gives you something to do outside of sitting around in the four-walls.

We often know ourselves better than we think and I'm guessing you'll know when you're ready for trying a little ride out - but I'd go with up and down a few roads at a nice and slow pace to get a feel for it again, and take it from there really. Don't put any pressure on yourself to hit any specific targets and take breaks if you have really tired days. Work up to longer rides as your fitness / weight comes back on.

Good luck and I hope you get back to full fitness soon.

 

[cosmicbike]

Whilst not as a result of cancer, I found myself with considerable muscle loss repeatedly over the past few years. Walking was limited to shuffling around the house until I re-learnt that skill, so my physio advised cycling, but to limit it to either an exercise bike or turbo trainer for the first few weeks. This meant that if it became too much then I could just stop, without having to think about getting home, and also gave me a constant load with no stop/starts as you would experience in the real world. Worked for me, but was a little mind numbing...

 

[MarkF]

I had an accident in 2011 and was out for year, the muscle loss was terrible, at my physio sessions I did lot of resistance elastic band work, they were great so I bought some for home and had a very rapid muscle recovery, great for your tendons, feel a twinge? Stop.

 

[Bimble]

Whilst not as a result of cancer, I found myself with considerable muscle loss repeatedly over the past few years. Walking was limited to shuffling around the house until I re-learnt that skill, so my physio advised cycling, but to limit it to either an exercise bike or turbo trainer for the first few weeks. This meant that if it became too much then I could just stop, without having to think about getting home, and also gave me a constant load with no stop/starts as you would experience in the real world. Worked for me, but was a little mind numbing...

Good point about doing it at home - I hadn't thought about the getting home / stopping bit.

 

[ColinJ]

I was in a very similar situation in 2012/13 after a major illness but in my case my lungs and heart were the parts affected most. After leaving hospital, I could only walk about 50 metres or 1 flight of stairs before needing to stop and rest.

I rebuilt my fitness with regular walking. First to the house of a nearby friend, then to the shops, and then to the park. All of those are level walks. The park was about 500 metres away.

Once ok doing those walks, I started walking up a steep local hill to meet my friend from work. It was back to square one with that. 50 metres up the hill, 200 metres, 500 metres and so on. It took many weeks to manage the whole walk.

Once I could do the distance and handle the gradient, I started walking faster. I probably could have started cycling again then, but I was lacking in confidence so I waited until I was capable of power-walking up the entire hill (which includes a section at 20%).

I finally got back on the bike after 8 months and found that I was fit enough to do 20 km flat rides almost immediately. It did take another month or two to be able to tackle big hills on the bike, and more than a year to get comfortable with them.

I would have thought that you should be able to get fit again much quicker than I did because with damaged lungs I was struggling to get oxygen into my bloodstream, and that made it very difficult to exercise.

Good luck with your recovery from the operation, and keep up the walking!

 

[ianbarton]

Thanks for all the advice. When I was 23 I had a climbing accident, which amongst other things involved a fractured spine. I ended up spending 5 weeks lying flat on my back in bed. It took me several months to walk any distance and about 2 years to recover. So, I am not expecting miracles now! Walking does seem to be the best way of getting fit again. I am tramping over the muddy fields at least once a day. I have managed to improve the distance walked to about three quarters of a mile in a week. I'll try and increase my pace.

Swimming would be a good option, but I can't drive for a few more weeks and nearest pool is about 6 miles away. I do have a spin bike and if I can stand the boredom, I'll have some sessions on it. With a bit of improvisation, I can use some weights on my ankles and do some leg raise exercises.

 

[galaxy]

Its surprising just how many people have had such serious injuries. Things like walking and cycling which we all enjoy can just be taking away in a whisker.

 

[classic33]

Snapped the ankle in 2000, found a slight problem with a cast, they'd to cut it off. No painkillers either.

Got up and out on crutches within two weeks. Back on the bike within seven months.

But during that time, a fair amount of time sleeping on the floor, with the leg elevated. As said above, you know you're own limits more than you think.

If you've "dodgy legs", are the stairs a safe option?

 

[slowmotion]

I'd take it a bit easy for a while. Your operation was only three weeks ago, after all. I had a chest op. aged 56 and was forbidden to ride a bike, drive or do housework for three months. Ye Gods! I hated that last restriction. I started working at home again two days after being discharged from hospital. Just some light electronic assembly work that didn't require any strenuous effort but was required for financial reasons. It also stopped me going insane with boredom and was good therapy. I did a bit of walking, attended the outpatients' department post-op appointments ( a complete waste of time involving speed walking up and down hospital corridors to the pace of an increasingly speedy metronome) , but I never set myself the task of becoming an athlete in a hurry. A body takes a while to heal at that age.
The cardiologist let me get back on the bike after two months without any restrictions. The first ride was simply fantastic.

All the best.

 

[boydj]

Getting outside with a bit of daylight will lift the mood, even if it's only for a gentle walk. A very easy cycle, staying close to home, once you feel ready, will help build confidence. Build gradually from there.

 

[barongreenback]

Hi Ian, fellow bowel cancer survivor here - hope the prognosis is good (stage 2 rectal cancer for me - lower anterior resection, temporary ileostomy for 9 months and reversal in December 2015). I must admit, after my initial surgery that was a bit of a nightmare, I couldn't get back on the bike - the ileostomy and a catheter that was in place for a couple of months put paid to that. Post reversal was a different matter. I started walking and then finally got back on the bike 3 months later with the blessing of my surgeon. Took it very slowly but the legs do come back and a year later, I'm comfortably cycling up to 50 miles without any issues. My stamina isn't what it used to be but I can bomb around on a reasonably flat route without any issues. Hills are another matter!

You will feel weak now and seriously, don't push it. You'll be amazed at how quickly you will feel better but the walking sounds perfect.

By the way, the Beating Bowel Cancer forum (http://community.beatingbowelcancer.org) has a few keen cyclists on it. They can also offer some advice.

Good luck with the recovery and let us know how you get on

 

[oldwheels]

I lost a kidney and the ureter some years ago now. After the second op the wound would not heal up for ages. Just took gentle walking for a while and gradually built up but it took about 6 months before I was passed reasonably fit. At first I only could manage a few hundred yards on the flat and had to stop for a rest on the wall outside a local electricity board shop. I was later told the staff were terrified I was going to die on their doorstep so I must have looked pretty bad. Do not push yourself too hard but it is essential to keep at it as far as you can as often as you can. Otherwise you tend to seize up and it is more difficult to start again.

 

[ianbarton]

You will feel weak now and seriously, don't push it. You'll be amazed at how quickly you will feel better but the walking sounds perfect.

By the way, the Beating Bowel Cancer forum (http://community.beatingbowelcancer.org) has a few keen cyclists on it. They can also offer some advice.

Good luck with the recovery and let us know how you get on

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll have a look at the forum. My tumour was about 17cm from my rectum. There was something higher up near my caecum, which they couldn't reach with a camera because I also had a hernia. When they operated the thing near my caecum turned out to be a polyp, which was removed. They also fixed my hernia at the same time. I am waiting for the results of the histology next week to see if I need chemotherapy.

I am gradually increasing the walking. Weighed myself this morning to find I had lost about 10kg compared to pre-op. Since I was prettty skinny most of this is probably muscle. Just need to keep eating and exercising to try and regain more strength.