Walking and Sleeping

I was told to walk every two hours during the day - but I was back to work as a teacher 10 days later - so Iwas on my feet all the time anyway - I was told that if I was going on a car ride to get out every hour to walk a little.  I don't remember how long I was supposed to walk every two hours for - you can ALWAYS call the office - and Dr. P should be calling you in a day or two - so you can ask her when she calls.

I'm a teacher, too, so hopefully that will cure the boredom in a few days!

Where and what do you teach?  I am in northeast philly and teach 8th grade math.  Hopefully by the time school starts you will start to feel like you have some more energy and I always counted onthe kids to give me their energy which worked well for me! :)

That's just crazy!! 8 weeks of getting up every 2 hours! I'd say get up once at night and just move a bit - like I did walk to the bathroom and back. I have to be honest - most nights, especially after the first few I never got up. Now if you are at a higher risk for blood clots for any reason then maybe - but get some sleep!

I thought the same thing... I'm not at a higher risk, so maybe I will enjoy my sleep. :)

Melissa,

Call Dr. P's office and ask.  They're wonderful about verifying things.  While I was at Barix, it was every 2 - 3 hours, but I was told when I went home to make sure it was "no longer than 4 hours" without walking, except at night.  If I could sleep through, I should. 

I was also able to stay off the pain meds once I got home, which helped immensely.  And as long as you're getting fluids in and getting at least some protein (i wouldn't worry too much at this point how much protein you're getting - but do try to get some!), you'll be feeling a LOT better very quickly.

Having said all that, it takes a good 10 days to 2 weeks for your body to fully flush out all the chemicals in the anesthesia, so don't be surprised if you feel "fuzzy" for a while (no short term memory, etc.). 

Walking is the very best thing you can do.  Stretching is a close second!  Both will help work out the toxins AND the gas, and will get your digestive tract kick-started, which will make you feel soooo much better.

Hang in there!

karen

ok, i totally didn't have that order from Boe... because he said to take the pain meds before bed so I would sleep lol... but because of the cath (they hate my bladder) I would wake up after about 6 hours, pee, march in place for a few and go back and pass out more... I don't heal well at all without sleep... but during the day i made sure i was up and around ever 2 hours... unless I passed out for a nap... then I walked around once i got up lol...

Well rules may have changed a bit...I was told to walk on my ride home and then at least every few hours while at home...but I was never told to get up every 2 hours at night while home.  In fact...the first night home I ended up sleeping for something like 9 hours straight and I'm telling you - that's what I needed.

If you happen to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or whatever...I would definately walk around just a little bit.  And if you just wake up during the night - at least roll over and move around in bed a little bit.

Good luck!!!

Pam

I am suspecting that maybe it was the particular nurse you had who told you this.  Some of them like to scare the living s$@# out of us about blood clots.

I was at high risk because of my BMI, and Dr. P told me that I could sleep 4-6 hours through the night, and then walk every 2 hours during the day.  It was bloody hot last August when I had my surgery, so some of my walks were things like going to the grocery or Target or the mall, and other times I even went to the gym and walked on the treadmill at about 2.0 mph.

The tiredness is normal, and it will pass. I noticed after about 3 weeks that I felt back to my normal self.  Good luck.

Lesley

I slept a lot, but had complications, but got up every few hours...

Sleep if you need to for healing and walk when you can, as often as you can.