Hi I had a right hemicolectomy in Apr 2010 (removed a lump the size of my fist, 22cm of large bowel, 7cm of small bowel, appendix) as my surgeon explained prior to surgery, it is the persons ability to get back up and mobile that helps the bowel recover from this surgery so despite the pain, I was given exercises by the hospital physio on day 2 post op...the nurses were excellent in forcing me up and begin walking about this shouldn't have been an issue, as I have always been extremely fit and physically active....but any bowel surgery is "quite major" I can also advise that you have at least 4-5 days off any food (only sips of water after day 2)....as they need to make sure the 'joins' of the bowel have had some time to settle before they start dealing with food I had some late passing of blood on day 7...but that was possibly just a catchup of my bodily functions.... not sure how mobile you are....but you need to be prepared to do a lot of walking....seems this is one of the better recovery exercises rgds Paul S ... View more