curious about the pre op steps

i think that Cartherine right, re the rules in NB. I noticed that in the US most people are back to work after a few days and solid food is a lot sooner. Lise told me that Dr B does not allow you to even drive a car for 2 weeks. She said that is standard after any surgery, but I have never heard it before. I was actually considering driving home!!  I really don't want my DH going with me. He is a lousey care giv er. His philosophy is they wouldn't send you home if you were not able to take care of yourself.  I could tell you horror stories.

Further to your comments about driving after surgery... I have to say that there was no way I could have driven home from the hospital.  My biggest misconception was that because the surgery was done laprascopically, that it wouldn't be as painful or uncomfortable.  Remeber that you have 5 incisions instead of one.  It hurts to sit up, it hurts to sit down, it hurts to move.  that lasts for 3-5 days.  I'm not kidding.  I have a very high pain threshhold but boy oh boy, this one fooled me.  I had a great recovery and probably could have driven after one week if I had to, but didn't trust myself as far as slamming on the brakes if I had to.  There was no way i wanted to risk stressing my incisions.  Please don't assume that you will be back to normal once you get home.  And Charline, I need to you tell your DH something for me !!!!  The reason they send you home the same day is so that your family can care for you instead of paying hundreds of dollars to have nurses do it.  Everyone recovers better in their own environment but there is no way you can do it alone.  So DH you will have to spend one or two days pampering Charline when she gets home.  She doesn't want to risk putting pressures on her incisions just to get a drink of water , or try to get out of bed alone, or try to get off the toilet alone.  I found I had to keep one hand on my port incision as that is the most painful incision.  so you only have one hand left to help yourself get around.   I can appreciate your DH's philosophy, but it's all wrong!!!!!!!!!!!  Its all about family care instead of nursing care.

My surgery was 4 weeks ago and it was just Friday that I noticed that no longer have pain in my incisions.  IT'S ALL GONE !  Halleluiah !    So most people can count on 4 weeks of uncomfortableness.

Hi,
Are you released the same day as the surgery?   Not even an overnight?  How long after surgery to they pack you off?  

Now that I think of it...in NB it is fairly normal to be sent home same day...the day surgery concept. 

And Patsy, your comments are excellent.  I think it will be very good for these guys to really see it is not easy after surgery.  Once you get that first month behind you, it is harder to remember the uncomfortable stage.

It brought back memories to me of just how really really uncomfortable it was to wipe my backside.  If you are big enough now to have to strain to reach all your bits....then you are going to find this a very difficult task.  In fact, some get bum wipers to do the reaching for them. 

And sleeping .... I was not able to sleep on my side for about a month.  And for me this was an issue.  I had to sleep on my back.  When I as on my side it pulled incisions.

So....it is can be difficult time healing those first few weeks.  Not impossible...but better to be prepared for the worst...so if you get it easier...bonus!

Take Care,
C

I forgot to answer the question about hospital stay.  Yes it's same day.  my surgery was at 11:30 got out of recovery at 3:00 and discharged from day surgery unit at 8:00 or so.  They keep you 4 hours after recovery, but by the time i got out it was 8:00. 

So True catherine.  I think it's one of the last things we think of when we agree to surgery, is the pain we will be in, and for how long.  it's not comfortable.  I can now sleep on my side as well. it takes time though.  Alot of things that you normally take for granted become more difficult and painful after surgery.  I hope everyone reads these messages !!!

I have a 4 year old son (30 hours of labor ended up with an emergency c-section) and a 2 year old daughter (scheduled c-section).  The pushing I did with the first delivery made my recovery extremely difficult.  My body was sore from pushing and then I had to deal with the incision and all that.  Nonetheless, everything went well.  When I had my daughter at 4:30 in the afternoon, I was walking the hallways at 6:00am the next morning, no issues whatsoever.

I think that sometimes we forget that it's surgery and we have to take time to consider the fact that healing takes time and thing we take for granted are going to be difficult...like lifting the kids, or lifting groceries...etc..for a while.  That's why it's important to try and have a good support circle (sending Charline's DH some vibes atm...)

It's with feedback like what we see on these boards that we can prepare not just ourselves but the people around us to make sure the recovery goes as well as possible.

I know that sleeping on my back is going to be awful, but I expect to have to do it and may end up in the recliner for a while since I can at least try to lean a leg to one side or whatever...