UKC

Currently in a hospital bed awaiting (not confirmed yet but very likely) the removal of my appendix via keyhole surgery. 
Has anyone had the same or similar? 
How long did you take out till you were back climbing? 
I’m 26, a tree surgeon, so relatively fit. I hope to god it won’t take two weeks until full recovery or I’ll be skint and stir crazy. 
 

Apologies if this is in the wrong section. 
 

Thank in advance 

JRJG 

Lucky you having the option of keyhole.

Mine was open and was off work for a month (office based) on horrid high strength pain killers. Maybe 3/4 months before I was back to normal fitness. Longer before I resumed climbing simply because the harness sat on my scar line, which was not comfy. 

Good news for you is that just about everyone I spoke to had experienced keyhole surgery and thought I was making a big fuss, as it really wasn't that bad! Medical staff were more supportive and said my recovery was more in line with a C.section, as they just sliced through the core muscles.

So my advice would be to push for keyhole surgery if they will let you. 

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Best of luck. I wouldn't hold out much hope for the two weeks, though. 

I was about 55 when I had mine removed by keyhole surgery. Can't remember any problem climbing again soon after. I think I had about a week off exercise and then back in again with no problems

I seem to remember that with keyhole appendix removal they sort of move the various layers of muscle out of the way rather than cutting through them.

The "famous" keyhole appendix op was Pat Cash a month before reaching qtr finals at Wimbledon in 1986.

Thank you all for your replies. 
Still sat waiting for the call to theatre; wouldn’t mind too much except I’ve been nil to mouth since midnight last night and the bloke next to me just had fish and chips brought in for his tea... 

I’m hoping for a straight forward as possible outcome. Take things easy for a couple of weeks and maybe no climbing for three weeks or so. 
Can’t afford to hamper my body as it directly effects my work. 

Nonetheless thank you all for your stories. Quite reassuring reading. 
 

JRJG 

I had the exact same thing last month. Keyhole, but th appendix was in a bit of a bad state. I went for a decent walk after about a week, and still felt pretty wiped out. Ran (very slowly) after 2 weeks, tried to climb after 3 and it still felt weird, so probably more like 4 weeks. I felt fully shit for the first week, and pretty wiped out still for a bit after that. Take it easy, overdoing it after having your abs sliced open is not a good idea. 

Hope it all goes well, waiting for surgery is horrid and being nil by mouth for longer than needed utterly grim. 

Just having a general anisthetic can take longer to get over than we might expect. Anecdotally, it seems to vary significantly person to person.

I had my appendix and cecum removed by keyhole surgery, 18 months ago.

Two weeks later, it was a struggle to walk 100 yards down the road.  The recovery curve then accelerated and i was climbing VD after 6 weeks and HVS a few weeks later.  You will feel a bit delicate for a month or two, so i'd be carefull what you do, you'll be slightly more at risk of a hernia after a laparotomy.

I had a secondary issue, in that i had an ileus for ten days (bowel not 'producing'), so i was nil-by-mouth for ten days.  Count yourself lucky if you dodge that bullet.  I lost 8kg which took me 2 or 3 months to put back. During that period, i was short on stamina and permanently hungry.  I ate like a horse, which really annoyed my other half 😁.

I then suffered another blockage 5 months later.  Caused, i suspect by the keyhole surgery. I had to go through the whole surgery thing again.  In retrospect, the ileus was the warning sign that my small intestine had been disturbed.

Chin up!  Eighteen months on, i feel no after effects of the surgery.

Had mine out in October (aged 32) and had more like 2 months without doing any exercise, although I suspect the keyhole surgery I had was done by the work-experience kid as I couldn't leave hospital for 2 days due to the pain, despite being on morphine and other pain killers the whole time, then getting an infection in my arm/hand from having two canulars in that weren't even getting used...

But in terms of recovery, I would suggest being good to yourself for 2 weeks, but do get out walking [slowly] and maybe some VERY gentle cobra position stretches for your abdominals as they will tighten up a lot. You are likely to get recurring pain in your shoulders too which is a process of the air they pump into you moving through the body, so do some shoulder mobility work to move the air bubbles around. I didn't do any climbing for 3 months after my surgery, but that was a combination of not having any walls near me and getting a cold over Christmas for ages, but definitely leave it 5-6 weeks.

Hope it all goes well!

I had a similar problem after surgery for bowel cancer. Lost 10kg in 8 days. Did you have a nasogastric tube inserted? That was much the worst part of the whole "experience". For the first 48hrs every time I swallowed I gagged until my throat got used to the tube. 

I'vr had three or four!  Awful things, made me want to vomit.  And they often didn't drain the stomach properly, so i vomitted anyway.  And they stopped me sleeping properly by restricting my movement.

After the doc said my last one could come out, the nurse said she'd be along in an hour to do it (them being overworked).  I just pulled it out myself and presented it to her 5 mins later 😁 Doddle of a job.

Yes I think in retrospect a lot of my ill effects were due to the GA. weird bladder and bowel goings on for quite a while. 

Could't agree more. I had a laparascopic nephrectomy which looked like two keyholes and a small letterbox when sewn back up. Once the obvious risk of infection and so on had passed the main concern was that a hernia might develop and even though I was doing nothing more than light gardening , one appeared about 12 months after the op.

It's on the letterbox scar, though, so maybe actual keyholes aren't as likely to develop hernias. Either way it is absolutely something you don't want to risk, especially in a physical job.

Assuming you not been previously seriously injured, surgery is the biggest and deepest injury your body has ever dealt with. That, the rummaging around, CO2 inflation giving bends in your shoulders plus general anaesthetic can do weird things (constipation* extreme enough to worry the medics),  it all means it might be longer than 2 weeks. Hopefully you'll do better.

*the bloat after 48hrs without farting is bad, the first fart was a miracle cure for chucking up all the time. I won't mention what happened the second time I farted.

I felt ok but showering/dressing was enough to exhaust me for a couple of weeks. You might also be more stupid than normal without realising it - I certainly was!

Oh yes I forgot about the shoulder pain. That was the most sore part for a few days 

A VERY VERY strange part of the experience!

That's heroic! Mine didn't stop me being sick either.

Mine ruptured after I was misdiagnosed with constipation; the consequence of this medical gaff was open surgery. The week after the opp I was feverish with an infection but a course of antibiotics sorted that out and I was back lugging furniture around within a month (for free, I was volunteering to try and stem a gap in my CV). However this was one of my more successful interactions with the medical profession. When I was misdiagnosed as having mental health problems (I went in complaining of blackouts and palpitations) I was prescribed antipsychotics!

I'm grateful to them for saving my life (with reference to the appendectomy) but they don't half complicate things at times. I know I have the benefit of hindsight here and I guess my history of some mental illness makes them assume I'm speaking out of my backside for the rest of my life. But still!

As an aside, it is remarkable how many of us are alive after these interventions. Hooray for modern medical science! But Booo to those who assume you're being a hypochondriac when you have a life threatening condition, as has happened twice to me now.

I hope things go well JRJG - Sending my best and hope for a speedy recovery for you.

Lugging furniture  around after open surgery  a few weeks before sounds reckless to me ....

It probably was but I got away with it.

Have you been done yet?  Best wishes for your recovery.

Once again thank you all for your comments, wishes, stories and experiences.  
I had the operation on Sunday morning and was released on Monday morning. Spent the day at home today with lots of brew drinking and a little bit of pottering. 
By pottering I mean standing in the garden in a belay jacket holding a brew and watching the hens. 

Some very interesting reading from you all though. 
I can definitely agree with the shoulder pain, quite a strange feeling that initially had me thinking I’d somehow twisted or damaged them. So that has been a welcome explanation.  

Thank you for all of your suggestions too. I do not feel anywhere near stretching my core just yet. However I am doing my best to stand up straight and pull my shoulders back when I walk around. As this does ‘pull’ my core slightly I feel it is hopefully preventing some of the core tightness mentioned. 
 

Another quick question to you all; how long after key hole until you felt safe to drive? The doctors said at least a week which I’m happy to agree with, I’d just like to hear from people’s opinions. 
I imagine if I had a read of my insurance small print there would be a definite black and white answer. 
 

JRJG 

I'd be surprised if you were advised to be driving in less than two weeks. Six weeks in my case, admittedly a bit more complex than your surgery.

Good to hear you're up and about and home.  That means they haven't intefered with the working of your intestines.  And that you won't have unduly suffered fron nil-by-mouth.

Driving... I can't quite remember how long i waited, a week maybe, less than two.  I think the biggest issue was actually getting in and sat down behind the wheel, the driving itself was fine.

My recovery was like a S-curve.  Pretty slow for two weeks, then a rapid improvement to around 80% fitness followed by a slow gain (i.e. two months) for the last 20%.  Once you're past the first week or two, life rapidly gets better