Training after tumor surgery

Training
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Hi there!

In November 29, I was admitted to the surgical ward for bone cancer removal for the 2nd time.

The 1st tumor located on the iliac bone from the back, the 2nd is on the same iliac bone but from the front!

I have a lot of scar tissue on my glutei from the 1st surgery. On a long bike day, I feel some pain.

The 2nd surgery is more invasive. They removed the hip flexor muscle, all of it. Through and through opening in the iliac bone with titanium plate fixed with screw!
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My physician team, told me I can’t do any heavy training before 4-6 months.
So I canceled my subscription on TR!

But 10 days later I’m back on the trainer.

Until now, I lined up on 3 local reces.

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Everyone around me says take it easy. But my body is not feeling any pain. Maybe slightly when standing on the final sprint (10xx watt).

I have lost a lot of fitness. But want to gain it back
(Ftp 250 before @ 74kg)

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  1. Talk to your doctor.
  2. Several weeks off the bike + surgery = total reset for fitness, IMHO.
  3. Seems like starting over with Traditional Base (Part 1 and maybe even 2 & 3) would be smart, to ease back into things.
    • You may not feel bad, but your body is working hard to heal and I would be very cautious about adding significant stress on top of that.
  4. Then move on to Sweet Spot Base (if you do a partial TB) or maybe a Build (if you do the full TB 1-2-3).

I think it’s important to take it too easy rather than risk pushing too hard, too soon, but that’s just my opinion.

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First of all and most importantly hope surgery went well and all best for your full recovery. In terms of training - better too easy than too hard. Agree with Chad above. Trad base to get started.

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If your physicians are telling you to take it easy, take it easy.

You may feel well enough to do hard exercise but could be doing real damage to your body.

Get a second opinion if you’re really not sure about the advice. But don’t ignore the professionals if they all tell you the same thing.

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Dude, that’s a tough thing to go through. Hope you heal well and stay well.

I would strongly advise you to talk to your consultant, there will still be significant trauma to heal and settle, plus inflammation and a diminishing risk of infection.

After that as above, start slow and build up again.

ETA: you may well have some new bike fit and left/right imbalance issue to deal with. Getting ‘right’ on the bike would seem sensible before you start pushing yourself

Best wishes

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I’m just responding to this so that I can wish you well and I hope you have a speedy recovery. Hopefully this is the last time you’ll go under the knife for a while.

As I’m no doctor, I’m going to say speak to your doctor. Take the rest and come back, hopefully in the knowledge that you’re fit and health.

Best wishes.

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Thanks for the advice @mcneese.chad which I followed. I have been completely off-the bike for 3 weeks now!

Did some upper body gym excercise while healing.
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My fitness dropped from mid70s to mid20s

Do I need to do new FTP test?
I know 20min version is not doable! I’m thinking either 8min or ramp test! What do you think?

It was 250w before, realistically, how high (low) should I aim for the new test?

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IF, and only if, you feel like you can handle a test, the Ramp would be my preference.

But, if you have any reservations, I would manually drop FTP and do some Endurance workouts as feelers (Pettit) or even a recovery ride first (Dans, Taku).

For manual, maybe try 150-200w to be safe? Be attentive and use the Intensity adjustment in the workout if it feels off. Better to be conservative and start a bit too easy if anything.

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