Month 2 through Month 6

Week 9

June 30th (Day 55)

I called the transplant office today to get an update on which activities I'm permitted to do at this point. I'll probably get yelled at when I get to my 6 month checkup but I've already been throwing a baseball on the sidelines of my baseball games and lightly swinging a baseball bat to begin rotating my torso and to lightly exercise my abdominal muscles. I didn't experience any pain or feel any stretching of the scar tissue in my incisions, which prompted my call in the first place to see if I am able to officially increase my activity level. I got the all clear for all activities with the CLEAR instructions that I begin at the BEGINNING of any activity level and SLOWLY work up as comfort allows.

July 3rd (Day 58)

I hit a small bucket of golf balls at the driving range today! I started slowly with the swing and worked my way up to a full range of motion swing...just not with my full strength. I learned something about golf from this experience...if you slow down your swing and don't try to hit the ball as hard as you can, the ball goes straight! I know...doesn't seem like rocket science but my surgery may have inadvertently helped my golf game! I only hit the ball about 20 yards shorter than normal as well so take that information for what it is worth.

I also ran a mile at a comfortable 10 minute pace and it felt like running did before the surgery. The strength and stamina are the last things to come back but I feel like I'm making progress on both fronts.

Week 10

July 11th (Day 66)

I was able to complete a 2 mile run at a 12 minute mile pace and felt good afterwards. I felt like I could have run faster but I didn't want to push it too much too fast.

July 13th (Day 68)

I played 2 innings in the outfield today in my baseball game! I wasn't comfortable batting yet but I was 100% comfortable playing the field and throwing the ball if I needed to make a play. I hope to hit in next weeks game as I feel almost ready to make a full swing.

Week 11

July 15th (Day 70)

I joined Planet Fitness today to begin strength training again! I could tell that I needed to start at the beginning again but not directly due to the surgery. The surgeon told me that you lose about 10% of your fitness level each week of inactivity so it makes sense that I would need start from square one again. I was able to do exercises for my upper body, lower body, and even my core muscles. I did NOT do sit-ups; I did light crunches on a machine designed to work abdominal muscles and it was NOT comfortable doing 3 sets of 10 reps. I word of caution for those who do strength training: be careful when you do exercises that require your abdominal muscles for stability like lat pull downs. I needed to lower the weight for that exercises because I could feel the pull on the scar tissue and I was not ready for that yet.

July 20th (Day 75)

I played my first full baseball game both in the field and batting as well. I felt no discomfort hitting batting practice or in the game. I felt much more confident in my healing progress considering I was able to hit baseballs to left, center, and right field in a game situation with no discomfort. I did notice that, even though my swing felt comfortable, I was not able to hit the ball as far as I felt I could due to the abdominal weakness from lack of exercise.

Week 12

July 24th (Day 79)

I tried 3 sets of 12 full sit-ups today. I completed them but I had lower abdominal discomfort for the next three days. The discomfort was over my entire lower abdominal muscles (both left and right side) so it was due to weakness and not the scar tissue. I will be promptly backing off the sit-ups and going back to crunches until I gain a bit more strength.

Week 13

August 3rd (Day 89)

Today was the first time I was able to swing a baseball bat with approximately full strength. I did not feel any noticeable difference between my swing today and my swing pre-surgery. Today felt like a strength milestone for me.

August 4th (Day 90)

I was able to complete my first 4 sets of 12 double bench crunches with no abdominal discomfort the next day! Another strength milestone! Here is the exercise I'm describing:

I will be going for a three mile jog tomorrow for the first time to gauge how my stamina is improving.