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Tomorrow morning I'm having inguinal hernia repair surgery--outpatient under local anesthesia. When I had the left side done 15 years ago, I was not playing tuba. Other than some pain for two days, I don't recall much about the recovery. For those of you who've had this procedure done, when can I expect to be able to buzz the mouthpiece? And when will it be safe to carefully pick up the Mira 188 and blow easily? Yes, of course I'll follow my M.D.'s advice. But when I told him I was an amateur tubist, he got the impression that I was blowing a lot of air under very high pressure. I tried to explain to him that high pressure was more of a trumpet thing, whereas tubists use a larger column of slower moving air. I'm not sure he understood what I was trying to explain to him. Anyway, what are your experiences following hernia surgery?

Hey,

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

You know the deal... Everyone is different and the recovery time will depend on many things. Follow the Dr's orders and your body will tell you when the time is right. Just don't rush into anything, don't over do it and take it slow & easy...

Goodluck, Tim

Get well soon, Norm.

I had an inguinal hernia repaired right before school started this year. The first 4 days were pretty miserable, but by day five I felt brave enough to do so light breathing and buzzing exercises. The doc didn't seem to think what I was doing was hurting my recovery, since my own pain threshold told me when to stop. My doc told me I could play again after my 4 week check-up.

I hope you have a quick recovery, and I hope this helps!

Dave Y

It seems that the WAY the surgery is done is also a huge factor. I had a similar repair done in the morning, went home a couple of hours later and found that my sheep had escaped and were running around the yard. I made fence repairs while holding my side with the other hand, chased the sheep in and felt fine so I went to my quintet rehearsal the next night. No problems experienced but the surgeon would have had a fit! Of course your experience could be wildly different..... NWD

Hi Norm. I hope that everything goes well for you as it did for me earlier this year.
My Dr. said that I should not do any playing for 1 month as it was my 2nd time around.
Everything seems to be ok now.
Still enjoying the Lidl.
Ron

I had both sides done outpatient and was back doing everything I wanted except lifting more than 30 lbs after two weeks. I could have been playing again after about a week though.

Best to ya, Norm,
I did both hernias at the same time that I got after hurricane Fredrick when I helped people move trees from thier places.
Day two after surgery, my (then) 30 year old son takes me, in my wheel chair, running full out down the hospital halls. I couldn't stop from laughing. He still has no idea that was one of the most painful experiences of my life.
You must immediately learn a controlled cough as well to laugh without a guffaw-and never sneeze. Those three things put a sudden pop on your gut that you will learn to regret. Maybe you could learn to laugh like Spongebob Squarepants, yayaya!
You should be able to toot your horn long before you can safely pick it up. Playing with a stand with a buddy to pack yout tuba will really help.
Wish you a speedy recovery,
toots