Activities When You Go Home after Lung Surgery

Activities When You Go Home after Lung Surgery


This guide provides general information about activities to do and those to avoid the first 6 weeks after you are home. Follow your discharge instructions or ask your doctor when you may resume activities. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your doctor or nurse.

Lifting

  • Do not lift anything heavier than 5 pounds for the first 6 weeks after surgery.  This may be sooner if you are progressing well after surgery.
  • We will discuss advancing your activity at your 2 week post-op follow-up visit.

Walking

  • Walk 3 to 4 times a day. Start with short distances and slowly increase how far you walk. 
  • Go up and down stairs slowly. Take one step at a time, pausing a few seconds between each step. Set up your home so that you do not have to climb stairs often.

Activity

  • Move your arms and upper body carefully for the first 6 weeks after surgery.
  • You may need to use a pillow or folded blanked for support and to decrease pain when you cough or sneeze. Place the pillow under the arm of the side you had surgery, gently pressing it against your body.
  • Continue to use your incentive spirometer every hour while awake for 4 weeks.
  • You will need extra time to rest after being active. Plan your most important activities for early in the day when you have the most energy.
  • You may do light housework such as making the bed, cooking, and dusting 2 weeks after surgery
  • You may do laundry in 4 weeks, but only carry light loads and ask for help to put wet laundry in the dryer. 
  • Do not do yard work for 3 to 4 weeks. Do not use a push mower for at least 6 weeks. Ask your doctor when you may start doing these things again.
  • For some surgeries, you may need to resume pulmonary rehab 2-4 weeks after surgery. Follow their recommendations for advancing activity.

Sexual activity

You may resume sexual activity when you are able to climb 2 flights of stairs without shortness of breath. Most people resume sex in 4 to 6 weeks, depending on their progress.

Driving

We will discuss when you are able to resume driving at your 2 week post-op follow-up visit. Do not drive if you are taking narcotic pain medicine. Plan to resume driving locally in 6 weeks. But, this may be sooner if you are progressing well after surgery. Limit driving to short distances and conditions that make driving as safe and easy as possible. Avoid peak heavy traffic times and allow plenty of time to get where you are going. 

Returning to work

Ask your doctor when you may return to work. You may be able to return to work in 4 to 6 weeks, depending on your progress and the type of work you do. Some people need to make small changes such as working fewer hours and avoiding heavy lifting, stress, deadlines, and travel. When you first return to work, you may need to work only a half day or less if you are unable to perform your job’s tasks. Slowly increase your hours to prevent tiredness that could lead to a setback.

Recreation

Discuss returning to active forms of recreation such as tennis, golf, swimming, fishing, and skiing with your doctor. 

Traveling

  • Discuss vacations or extended trips with your doctor. 
  • If you ride in a car for an extended period, get out and walk every hour. 
  • You will have a chest X-ray at your 2 week post-op follow-up visit and at this time may be cleared to fly.

When to call the doctor

Call your doctor if you have:

  • Increased or unrelieved pain
  • Signs of infection: pain in or around wound; change in the amount, color, or odor of drainage; warmth around the wound; red streaks near the wound; fever greater than 101 degrees F or 38.3 degrees C; incision separates or opens up
  • Chest pain or shortness of breath
  • Cough that gets worse
  • Coughing up blood
  • Fever, chills, or flu-like symptoms
  • Nausea or vomiting where you are unable to take fluids for more than 24 hours
  • Any tender, swollen, or reddened areas from groin to heels
  • Numbness or tingling in the groin or calf
  • Skin on leg looks pale or blue or feels cold to the touch 

Thoracic surgery contact information

  • Monday – Friday (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.): 614-293-9059.
  • Evenings, weekends, holidays: 614-293-8000. Ask the Operator to page the Thoracic Fellow on call.

© 2006 – February 11, 2022, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

This handout is for informational purposes only. Talk with your doctor or health care team if you have any questions about your care. For more health information, call the Library for Health Information at 614-293-3707 or email: health-info@osu.edu.