I have messed up. questions about arm lift

The doctor told me not to use my arms getting in and out of bed sooooooo I haven't.  Yesterday when I got up I felt a pull in my right ab area, not to bad but it hurt.  Last night I was getting out of bed for a bathroom run and the same area pulled.  It hurt so bad that it took my breath away.  I do not cry easily but this had me brawling lke a baby.  Today the area is sore when I am sitting.  Haven't tried to lay down again, actually afraid to.  Have any of you had this happen?  If you have just had arm lift be careful don't do like I did.  Do you have any suggestions?  Other than that I am doing ok.  Arms sting a lot.  How long did you wear your compression sleeves and how long before your doctor took off your tape.  How long before you could take a real shower.

If you haven't done so already, you want to call your doctor's office.  The answering service will contact the doctor for you.  Since the pain is that bad, you really need to call.

My surgeon didn't specifically say to not use my arms but if I did use them and I felt pain, I stopped.  For two weeks after I slept in a recliner so that might be part of it, but there were times where I did need DH's help in getting up and down.  He'd hold my hands as a counter balance and I'd push with my legs so the stress on my arms was minimal.

The stinging might be the nerves coming back to life, but your doctor will confirm that too.

The doctor just told me I didn't have to wear the arm compression wraps this past Thursday.  And showering I could do once all of my drains were out.

I called and I go in Tuesday unless it hurts a lot again then I go to the emergency room.  It is a 2 hour drive to his office.  He said he would alert a doctor here that he knows in case I go to the emergency room here. 
I always fear obstructed bowel.  I haven't had trouble with bm's at all.  I have heard that bowel obstructions are felt on the right side so when I had this pain on the right side that is what I thought.  My doctor looked at my chart from the hospital because he said he thought I had complained about my side hurting a bit there.  Sure enough I did but don't really remember probably the morphines fault.  Anyway after I told him all the symptoms he feels it is a pulled muscle and said there isn't much they can do for that.  He is having the doctor at the emergency room here get a long binder for my husband to pick up on his way home from work.  I have never had a pulled muscle in my ab area before so have nothing to judge it by. 
I would love to have a real shower, DH has been washing me in the shower while I sit in a chair, but my doctor said I couldn't get the stitched area wet yet.  They are all so different.  Hopefully Tuesday I will get the go ahead to shower for real.  Thanks for your reply.  It means a lot.

I'm glad you called and got an answer. 

The shower thing drove me nuts too.  I mean we had a whole ritual of getting me cleaned up.  Our shower is upstairs so I couldn't do steps so I used the half bath on the main floor and rather than deal with water, soap and  a wash cloth, I used baby wipes for general areas and more um, heavy duty wipes for the business areas.  

When he gave me the okay to shower, I could not wait to get home and get in the shower.

The only area where I had stitches was in my arm pit area and each one had 5 or 6 stitches; the rest was all glued.  

I had my arm lift on May 25th - I did not have tape & no compression garments. I took a shower the next day & have taken one daily ever since. My arms look great!! Went from 16 inches to 12!!

I have not used my arms for anything over 5 pounds - I have used my DH to get in & out of bed (I had a tt & BA at the same time)

I have had a few twinges - but nothing to make me cry. It could be a muscle - but you should call your PS just to be sure.

Wow 16 inches to 12 inches that is great!  I haven't measured mine yet.  Did your surgeon use drains?  My didn't maybe that is why he is having me wear the compression garments so long.  I need to write stuff down to ask him.  I always forget.
He did tell me not to lift anything and to keep my arms elevated.  I I go back in Tuesday.  I explained everything in the post above don't know how to send the reply to more than one person.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. 

I did have drains - 1 in each arm pit - my sx was on a Tuesday - I went home on Wednesday - back for my first post-op on Thursday & he pulled both drains.

I kept both arms on wedges so my hands & arms were elevated. I did this for 2 weeks - my hands were very swollen for the first 3-4 days - then they got better.

It sounds like you pulled a muscle.  Your muscles are probably not used to being used in a twisting motion that way.  I am no expert, though, and you should call your doctor.  I hope you feel better soon!

The doctor said the same thing when I called.  My bad for not working on making my abs stronger before surgery.  There is a poster named Susan that stresses the importance of building a strong core before and after surgery.  Wish I had of listened to her.  Hindsight.  Gets you every time.

I did not have drains and was allowed to shower the day after my surgery.  (Just couldn't raise my arms up to shampoo my hair... had to bend over to do it...) The tape he put all along the incision line (over the glue) was quite sticky (and waterproof, apparently, because it stayed on until my 2 week follow-up).

Lora