How soon did you return to normal activites?

I'm a big swimmer. My surgeon said 6 weeks is a random date to make sure that sleevers don't go crazy and damage themselves. You are supposed to start exercising very gently immediately with walks etc. You build up slowly. My surgeon gave me the go ahead to swim after 1 month. I was so excited to get in the water again. I promised myself that I would only do 1km slowly but it felt so good and so right that I swam 2km. No problems what so ever. BUT you need to listen to your body. You will regret it forever if you give yourself a hernia by trying too much too soon. I should know as I did exactly this after a previous operation. Hernias are really hard to fix. They have tried once to repair mine and failed. I caused this hernia by pushing myself in the pool too hard.(backstroke). So make sure whatever you do is light weight, don't carry heavy shopping and as soon as anything twinges, stop immediately. Pain is never a good sign. Personally, I would regard horse riding as a high risk activity. Mounting and dismounting uses very large muscle movements in the stomach. Wait until your surgeon gives you the go ahead. Be specific about what you have in mind.

floaty

My surgeon told me 6 weeks for anything other than a brisk walk. I started playing tennis again at 6 weeks post op and had no problems. No swimming for 6 weeks either as apparently the water can make the wound sites swell.

Kate

I was told by my surgeon about 1 month but your body will tell you if you're ready =]
I joined the gym 1 month post op and was fine but as for other activities before that 1 month up like even going shopping for example my body would tell me straight away that I'm not ready for this amount of walking yet!! haha So it's best to leave it for atleast a month especially if you're riding horses!! hahaha
Best of luck,
Gretchen.

How soon did sleevers retyrn to normal activites? I ride horses and wondered how much time off this sort of activity do people have?