Part of my post-banded life is supposed to involve walking. Lots and lots of walking.
Forty minutes a day, in fact.
I've been trying, I really have. The first five days at home (alone) were fairly rough, especially the first two. Lots of stiffness, pain, a general sense of having run two marathons without stopping. I'd get up every half hour and walk around my little apartment, the cat following me with a quizzical look on her face.
By day four the stiffness and most of the pain were gone, except for a mild, dull ache in my stomach. Nothing a little foul-tasting liquid Tylenol couldn't kick.
The care team at my hospital stressed the importance of exercise over and over again. Not only right after surgery (I was up and walking the hospital halls with IV in tow at six hours post-op), but at home too. Moving around helps you heal faster, and prevents blood clots from forming, or so I'm told. The last words from the discharge nurse as I left the hospital were "walk, walk, walk and keep walking!"
I live in a six story apartment building and have been doing a round of walking in the halls, on every floor, for several days now. It takes about 20 minutes to do one side of the entire building. Not up to doing the stairs yet -- so this does involve some time spent waiting for the elevator between floors -- but I don't beat myself up for what I can't yet do.
(Well, not too badly anyway).
Note to self: the band does not exempt me from physical activity. Ideally, it ushers in a newly active lifestyle.
Does reaching for the remote count?
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