UGHHHH! Coughing Post Surgery (6+ months out)

[FluffyChix 17,410]

Hi y'all. So I have a bad cold and am coughing. But dang, it's so difficult to get a productive cough and move stuff up out of my chest. It feels like I don't have the muscle or diaphragm "ooomph" that I need. It's pretty wimpy. I also can't do a sit up even though I exercise and have been doing core exercises.

Do any of you who are healed also experience this lack of diaphragm strength? It's dramatically different from my pre-op strength. (Oh I am 6+ months out from RNY.)

TIA!

[Matt Z 4,139]

2 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Hi y'all. So I have a bad cold and am coughing. But dang, it's so difficult to get a productive cough and move stuff up out of my chest. It feels like I don't have the muscle or diaphragm "ooomph" that I need. It's pretty wimpy. I also can't do a sit up even though I exercise and have been doing core exercises.

Do any of you who are healed also experience this lack of diaphragm strength? It's dramatically different from my pre-op strength. (Oh I am 6+ months out from RNY.)

TIA!

That sucks. Sadly I can't say that I've experienced the same thing. Did they do any surgery to your diaphragm? Any hernia repair?

[FluffyChix 17,410]

29 minutes ago, Matt Z said:

That sucks. Sadly I can't say that I've experienced the same thing. Did they do any surgery to your diaphragm? Any hernia repair?

Supposedly not. I didn't have a hernia fix. But you know, I can eat a LOT without feeling restriction, so I'm wondering if I might have a hole in my diaphragm or dilation in my esophagus. I sent my surgeon a MyChart question about this. Will be interested to see what she says.

I was hoping it was just that our diaphragms need retraining or something... f**k!

[elmatador 167]

That's interesting! I had the same thing, but it went away by about 2 months post-op. I'd forgotten about it - never did figure out what that was about.

[FluffyChix 17,410]

45 minutes ago, elmatador said:

That's interesting! I had the same thing, but it went away by about 2 months post-op. I'd forgotten about it - never did figure out what that was about.

So maybe it is just that we've weakened it and it's just taking me longer! That gives me hope it will improve, cuz it's tough and scary right now to cough!