Recovery After Major Surgery For An Ironman Athlete

[IronmanAthlete5]

I'm a Crossfitter and triathlete who was in the full swing of preparing for my first Ironman, when a serious accident abruptly put a halt to my training. I am due for major shoulder surgery this Wednesday.

My physical activity will be limited for quite some time and I won't be able to train for a significant amount of time. Until then my top priority in life is a full and healthy recovery.

My normal eating habits are essentially built around the Whole30, so I'm eating fairly clean now. However, I'm looking for foods/supplements to increase or add into my diet that promote healing and recovery. I'm not talking about healing and easing soreness from a difficult workout, I'm talking about foods that will accelerate my body repairing and healing itself after trauma and surgery. Any tips or suggestions to share?

As a professional musician and an ironman triathlete, my entire being is built around my body being healthy and functional. I've accepted that the next months will be the most challenging time of my life and will be patient. However, I am looking to do everything in my power to increase my chances of success and rate of healing. This includes tinkering with my nutrtion. Any help is ,uch appreciated!

[cayenne]

Well, I have completed 2 ironman distance races with the last one this past Oct. I have to say, even yesterday on a 60 mile ride, I thought to myself, if I knew then(when I started tris) what I know now, I would have been so much better. I got kinda down on myself for letting so much time pass without trying this method of eating sooner. I am 54 and have been doing tris for 13 years mainly long distance. I was injured a couple months ago and I thought desperate times call for desperate measures so I started the W30 53 days ago. I can kick myself for not doing it sooner.

You will recuperate faster after surgery but keeping all the inflammatory foods at bay. Perfect time to start this process as your volume will be reduced. I am really surprised how efficient I am now-for instance, yesterday,I took 1/2 a sweet pot and got a banana at the store and that was my calories for 60 miles of a relatively hilly route. Did not drop my blood sugar and felt fine the whole ride and no carb bloat which I have been fighting every long ride for years.

I take omega 3, joint supplements, probiotics, and regular vitamins. Anti oxidants are key, good forms of healthy protiens and fat as well. Mind/body connection ex are good as well.

Good luck-follow what your PT says and don't overdo esp right after sx. You can only recuperate from this surgery ONE time so be compliant.

Keep us posted!

[IronmanAthlete5]

I'm definitely planning on doing an extended round of whole30 immediately after my surgery. As I said before, it's essentially how I eat anyways. I've done a full whole30 three times, and each time around it is easier to complete. I'm dead serious about my recovery... PT, meditation, rest, patience, tons of water, etc are all in my healing plans. I am not even going to have traditional post-surgery "comfort foods" such as ice cream.

I'm pretty confident and comfortable doing the whole30; I'm just looking for any foods/vitamins/minerals to focus on that will assist in accelerating my healing.

[cayenne]

Well, you are way ahead of me. Hope you find some good infor out there.

[GLC1968]

You may want to share more specifics about what your surgery is in order to get more detailed help.

I'm also a triathlete and had my most event filled season scheduled for last year when I was injured by my dog in March - resulting in surgery and a long recovery (I'm still not able to run regularly without quite a bit of pain). I happened to do my first Whole30 while recovering from lisfranc joint surgery and like Cayenne, I wished I'd started sooner! For joint repair, my doc asked me to up my vitamin C so instead of supplements, I try to eat something high in Vit C with every meal (I'm going to turn into a red pepper soon!). I also take Glucosamine Sulfate regularly. Lastly, plenty of healthy fats and high quality protein for healing and repair - but that's kind of a given on a Whole30 anyway.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you will be Whole30 during the surgery and if it includes general anesthesia, you'll want to bring some food with you to the recovery room. They will expect you to eat something before you are discharged and most hospitals are not well stocked with real food. Crackers, applesauce, jello, etc... I took a veggie babyfood pouch and some coconut flakes with me.

[MrsStick]

Sorry to hear about your shoulder woes. Having just come through shoulder issues myself (surgery was 6 weeks ago today for a shoulder so loose that carrying a travel mug with tea in that hand without specifically trying to hold it together resulted in an arm about an inch or two longer), and having to rely on hubby for my cooking has definitely taught me a thing or two at this point.

I ate fairly cleanly after surgery, but my biggest problem was eating with the pain meds. The Whole30 taught me to not snack, so my every four hour pain med meals consisted (mostly; I had a few not-so-compliant ones in there too) of Macademia nuts and dried apricots, gluten free bread and applesauce, LaraBars, etc. Not ideal, but given the fact that I had one usable hand until the nerve block wore off that first night, the bread/applesauce was worth it. I started weaning off my pain meds in the first week because needing to eat with it through the night made me feel queasy all the time. Always feeling bloated, never wanting to eat anything because I knew I'd be eating four hours later. I brought my own food to the hospital too - GF crackers and applesauce, but they didn't actually make me eat it that I remember (my anesthesia was a little over the top - I don't even remember the nerve block or conversation with the surgeon before they put me under...and that was from the "one glass of wine" stuff they put in me).

Stock up now on easy meals if you can. Make some soup...my chicken soup was delish. I roasted and tore apart a chicken, used the bones and veggie scraps for stock (bones in stock = gelatin = great for you), and used carrots and peppers and onion and garlic and whatever else I had. Pre-portion it into resealable containers around one use. If you, like me, don't feel great after snacking all the time for your meds, try to at least eat a little of something nutritious.

"They" (the proverbial they) say that these foods are great for healing: grapes, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, kiwis, olive oil, celery, ginger, garlic, curry powder, eggplant, nuts, tuna, salmon, mackerel, black and green tea. Take that how you will; I just see a list of good real food that we all are eating anyways.

Good luck, and from someone who is now out of the sling (6 week follow-up with the surgeon is Thursday) for day 1, stick with it, listen to your PT, and rest.