My partner is having his second abalation on Tuesday, this time under GA.
He is big into cycling and running so I know the weeks following the op are going to be increasingly frustrating.
Any advice for me on how best to support him post op generally and as a frustrated athlete?
Many thanks in advance
Even though he is an athlete he must still observe the advice to rest for at least 2 weeks after the ablation.
He should listen to his body and gently and gradually increase his activity.
I can speak from experience as on more than one occasion I, through no fault of my own, returned to normal activities too soon and lived to regret it.
Pete
Thank you for the advice. I'll try to ensure he listens to his body and takes time in his recovery.
I have found taking up a new hobby I always wanted to do helps, its totally absorbing and a distraction. In my case it was playing the drums, which is a double benefit as you get the indirect music therapy as well and is as energetic as you want. I also have taken up walking basketball.
These days people seem to be increasingly terrified of illness destroying their chosen lifestyle in reality AF has through change improved my life considerably.
Hope it all goes well.
Thank you.
Remind him that, like recovery from any injury, sometimes the fastest way to recover is to rest and do nothing.
I'm as keen a runner as anyone. I took 3 months off exercise after my ablation. A year later I'm faster than I've ever been. Meanwhile a friend of mine rushed back onto training and hasn't recovered at all well.
Thank you that is really valuable advice.I am trying to encourage him to not rush back to running and biking. He has asked the surgeon about when to should start back and he has not been able to advise him so my partner l is determined to get back to it quite quickly. If I am honest I don't think this helped him the first time. Thank you again for your replies.
I wasted two ablations by going balls out too soon. I was lucky to have a third. He may not be! Remind him that it may well be the training which caused it in the first place. It is never too late to improve your life with a major change.
Thank you that's really helpful.
Similar to Clive - remind him that the heart is a muscle and like any muscle injury you have to allow healing time and rehab time so the muscle heals in the right way.
I ruined my first ablation by doing too much too soon.
Very true. Thank you
Forgot about this - maybe buy as a present?
velopress.com/books/the-hay...
Thank you for the suggestion. I've bought it, read it and found it very interesting as it helped me to understand AF a lot more. My partner has so far refused to read it but I think it's something he will read after the op when he can see it from a different perspective.
Hopefully......very hard to balance between concern and what men often perceive as nagging. Unfortunately I have recently lost several friends because of what they called 'positive denial' i.e.- it's not going to happen to me!
I'm so sorry to hear that you have lost several friends. Yes it's a fine line between trying to read/learning about AF and encouraging to know as much information as possible and like you say,perception of nagging!!
Tie him to the bed with a pile of videos to watch !! 
And weeks isn't enough - think 2-3 months !!
Haha! Ok I'll try and make him sit and watch videos! I'm slowly adding little bits into conversation that he needs a longer recovery time!
Hi and welcome. Peritonitis, pulmonary toxicity, stroke, they've all kept me away from the gym for six months or more; three simultaneous hernias and two knee ops don't count as they were short-term derailments. Runners, cyclists, Spin and cardio bunnies are driven people whose identities are tied up with those activities, but you don't need me to tell you that. With a good history of fitness work, you don't start to decondition for two or three weeks and, there a chance that rest will enable improvement in muscle strength after full-on training. Subject to the surgeon's approval, consider walking and later some careful stretches. There's nothing to prove or panic about. Proper recovery means that he will be back quicker. If he's a member of a cycling or runnering club, do some admin, organise an event, talk to young members, encourage others to join or try the activities that he loves. No need to be passive and down.
Thank you for the valuable advice.
Pacemaker op 
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