I'm almost four weeks out of a laproscopic gall bladder removal - which had to
be done under general anesthesia.

I'm a longtime bike rider, so I think I have a pretty good handle on my aerobic
capacity.

Mine is finally starting to recover, but it was soooooo bad in the weeks
following the operation that I've got to wonder if general anesthesia had some
role in the loss.   My (admittedly highly-subjective...) guess is that the loss
was something over 60 percent.

To be sure, 5 days laying on my back most of the time has to have had some
effect, but I've had two artheroscopic knee procedures under epidurals and
experienced nothing even close to the loss I'm recovering from now.

Likewise, last winter I was down for over two weeks with some flu-like infection
and the loss in aerobic capacity seemed to be no more than 25 percent.

So, this seems to beg the question: what was it about the gall bladder procedure
that wiped me out so much compared to knee surgery and/or 2 weeks of flu-like
illness?    Getting stabbed in the gut four times (sort of like three times with
an ice pick and once with a pocket knife) probably didn't help any.   Same with
the cutting and sewing they did while they were in there.... but what about the
general anesthesia?   After all, it does go in through the lungs....