r/appendectomy

26f - i had an emergency uncomplicated laproscopic appendectomy 10 days ago (september 29) and I am genuinely depressed.

it was in a very shitty hospital (i thought i just had food poisoning when i went in at 2am, so I didnt choose carefully) and I had a terrible experience with everything EXCEPT the surgery itself. but I didn't feel that any of the doctors or nurses were paying attention to me aside from when I was just about to go into surgery. details:

• less than 10ml blood loss
• uncomplicated, no rupture or anything
• 3 incisions (no belly button incision)
• biggest incision is 12mm and they sutured the fascia on the inside
• only thing was a quite high WBC count that did show downward trending after the surgery so I was discharged that night
• 10 days post op - 2/10 pain with coughing or laughing and sometimes when I lay on the wrong spot, otherwise I am nearly pain-free. no opioids.

I am trying so, so hard to understand when it is okay to return to exercise, but the advice given to me BY THE HOSPITAL even contradicts itself. surgeon said 2 weeks. nurse said 3 weeks. discharge packet said 6 weeks on one page, 3 weeks on the next. the internet and scientific studies are the same.

I was weightlifting 5 days a week and had recently been making a ton of progress. literally HOURS before my surgery a random person in the gym complimented my progress. not being able to exercise and move and everything is extremely triggering for me. im already feeling depressed and like my life has been taken away from me. no sex life, no dating (im single), no working out, and im also a grad student and my lack of ability to think this past week due to fatigue has been really hard for me. the day after returning to school this past week I felt really severe exhaustion, like i was coming down with the flu, but I also slept poorly that night because I had a big presentation and was running on adrenaline after. (and the days before i hadnt slept because my neighbors were blasting music all night.) i had class the last 2 days as well, and slept better last night and I feel much better today.

I am looking for advice or personal experiences about returning to weightlifting and just being a person again. I work from home and I feel so depressed and isolated and ashamed because of not moving.

if you lift weights, when did you start again? how much lighter? what exercises?

for people who are gonna say "wait six weeks before anything to be on the safe side" - it does not honestly feel mentally "safe" for me to sit on my ass for the next five weeks as someone who was extremely active and social before this random stomach pain at 2am on a tuesday followed by an honestly horrific ER experience took it all away. im healthy and aware of my body.

separately, when did people return to a normal social life (drinking, smoking)?

thanks everyone in advance this sucks <3