Recovery from open surgery - what to expect?

[Iamnotastick]

I have open abdominal surgery in a few weeks for a cyst removal and possible liver resection.
What can I expect in terms of recovery? They said I will be an inpatient in HDU for five days if all goes well.
How long until I will feel well enough to start gently walking about etc?

Had loads of open surgery.. they will try and getting you up and walking in two days.. to stop blood clots.. it sounds mean when all you will feel like doing is resting/ sleeping... it's also great for the wind you will have ..( gas is inserted you for the operation.
So try and do tiny walks as much as you can.. even if you have a catheter etc.. l learned the hard way .. but honestly it helps.. a shower also helps as soon as you can.
I've had two laparotomies ( one lasted 3 hours) gallbladder removed along with liver lesions.
A few other smaller gyno ops.
I wish you all the luck.
( oh drink loads of water too).
.

Ah interesting! I am having a cyst removed from my liver as well as possibly some liver removed. My feet normally swell like monster much so I really want to try and move as much as I can.

your best bet is probably asking your team what they'd expect for recovery - it will depend on what exactly they're doing, what incision they're making, what your general health is like, what they normally do for pain relief, etc. If they're planning on 5 days in HDU post-op that suggests a pretty meaty operation. They won't be 'inserting gas' as suggested upstream if it's an open procedure (it's laparoscopic surgery that uses gas insufflation), but it's not that uncommon for the guts to go to slow down after major surgery and that's why some people get trapped wind (drinking loads of water if that does happen is not such a good idea - your team will be able to let you know what's going on though). The physios on HDU are great at helping with mobilising (especially with all the drips, drains and whatnot that may go with liver surgery). Hope it goes well.