Training after gallbladder surgery. How to ease back in?

You'll find plenty of docs who'll say just that.  There's a reason that you're told to do light activity for awhile, and it's not because the doc gets a kick out of it.  Healing times from different surgeries involving various tissues is fairly well known across the board.  If you're deciding on your own and ignoring what you've been told, you're doing something potentially dangerous to yourself.

All of us can probably point you to any number of patients who did too much too soon and had complications in recovery.  The surgeon is not your boss, but he/she might actually know something on occasion. 

I'll put in my two cents. I'm a general surgeon and perform GB surgery on a regular basis.  First of all, much of the advice your surgeon gives you after surgery is not based on trials, that is, scientifically supported data.  We usually tell people to stay away from heavy lifting for 6 weeks after surgery on the abdomen because it gives your abdominal incisions time to heal and this should help prevent incisional hernias.

  Unfortunately, this time honored reccomendation is not well supported by medical literature. The facts are that some people recover very quickly from abdominal incisions and can get back to activity quickly, while others struggle as they heal more slowly.

  In the case of cholecystectomy, I stick with the 6 weeks without heavy lifting.  It really takes much longer for your tissues to reach the maximum scar tensile strength, but at six weeks your fibroblasts are well in place and producing collagen.

   For most patients, I tell them to slowly increase activity after week 2.  I would allow them to swim run or bike if it felt comfortable. If they experienced any pain or discofort after a short trial, I would tell them to cut back.   I also advise them to avoid any sharp tranfers of force from upper to lower or lower to upper body. Golf, tennis and hurky jerky movements can overwhelm the tesile strength of the fascia at the site of suture attatchment.  The fascia there has poorer blood supply as it is at the edge of the wound.

  After 6 weeks of adding back activity, I tell them to resume full activity.  Many do so before 6 weeks.  

  It's very reasonable to discuss your goals with your surgeon and ask them to help tailor your return to full activity. To be fair to your surgeon, you should discuss your plans to return to activity. It IS true that you are the boss of your own body, but at the same time, they are (most likely) advising you based on their expertise and are looking out for your best interests.   I have patients that decide to 'go their own way' and most do just fine.  When they didn't listen and bad things happen, I say 'I'm sorry but what did you expect?'

  Good luck on your recovery! 

Why so defensive about this?  Nobody's claimed that docs know everything.  All I'm trying to say is that docs who do those surgeries have lots of experience with patients and their healing times and might actually know what they're talking about.  Is there a standard day when you can start doing strenuous activity?  Of course not.  Is there a time period after surgery where you're more likely to hurt yourself?  Of course there is.

Not sure what your issue is with physicians, but you'll find more who will work with you for your health than the god-complex types that you're speaking of.

 As payments for surgeries go down and the hospitals apply more pressure for less patient days, the pressure is on a surgeon to get folks out of the hospital sooner.   Inguinal hernia repairs were inpatient procedures not so long ago.

  At the VA here in Augusta, my patients tend to have comorbid conditions and I tend to be able to keep them for 24 hours as needed. If I were  in private practice, the beancounters would be breathing down my neck!  I will also be tagged by physician tracking groups for having a longer length of stay for my procedures.

 The fact is, most people are safely discharged to home the same day for cholecystectomy and there are no statistically observable MEDICAL complications for folks who go home the same day versus those who go home on post op day one.   Most complications after this surgery take time to develop, and are relatively infrequent for this procedure. The almighty dollar doesn't care if folks are at home in more discomfort than they would have had as an inpatient.

  The flip side of the argument is that we do not have infinate resources for health care, and if people stay in the hospital a day longer, the ability of the health system to tolerate the extra cost means something else suffers. 

  As per Derek's comments, while there are exceptions, most MDs I know care deeply abou their patients and the results of their surgeries. You need to understand that they treat many folks, and that complications can hurt the physician emotionally, financially and professionally.  Thus, they tend to presume that bad things will happen.  I'd much rather have my surgeon be cautious and hold me back from activity for 6 weeks than say WTF and let me go willy nilly. This reduces complications for ALL of their patients. 

  Most people are actually on the other end of the scale and have to be pushed to increase activities!

  (That being said, I'd want my wife to stay overnight).