Surgery Friday - any tips??

Keep Milk of Mag and stool softeners at hand.. the pain pills will slow your system down..
RTD protein shakes helped alot.. propel zero...make sure your remote controls have new batteries..shower chair and toilet seat lift


Michelle

What did you guys wear the first few days?  Night shirts?  Robes?  

I've had back problems the past few days, don't know what I did but I can't bend or twist at the waist.  I'm convinced it's God giving me a preview of what's to come after Friday.   Took me 25 minutes to get dressed this morning and 5 minutes to get in the car.  I finally surrendered realizing I couldn't drive safely but the whole ordeal got me thinking about making life as simple as possible for recovery.

Thanks!

tg

I wore larger sized Babydoll blouses from when I was bigger. I was able to hide my many drains and they we're easy to get on and off! I hope your back aches get better! My goodness!

Just Good Luck, and welcome to your new life!

 I was in the hospital clinic for six days because I had multiple procedures. So for me that first week I only wore my compression garment that was provided. I didn't even wear the hospital gown because it was just one more thing to take on or off every time I had to pee. I didn't care because the only people seeing me were my nurses and my Dr.  You could easily get away with just your garment and maybe a robe. (one with pockets so you can put your drains in) now I am a week out and have only wore pj pants with drawstring or some kind of yoga pants and leggings. Also sweatshirts are easy to hide drains in. For shirts I can get a regular t shirt over my head at one week out, but button-up is a better choice. I haven't tried jeans yet but they might not fit right away due to swelling so you might use an older pair a size up. 

Jennifer

 I'm one week out from tt & arm lift. For me the lift recliner & elevated toilet seat have been tremendously helpful. I didn't really need pain meds after day 4, except for at night. Deep breathing will help to relax you whenever you need to do anything that is uncomfortable. Good luck to you!

I survived.  Surgery went well but I just couldnt pee so they finally sent me home with a catheter.  I was the first in and last out of recovery.  They tried everything they could think of including a code grey - tornado warning and evacuation.  Got me in the wheelchair and handed me my stuff then the manager decided to ignore it and eventually they went to standby then canceled it altogether

I must admit to thinking a lot the first few days "WHY did I think this was a good idea?".  I think I totally underestimated the pain.  That said, from everything I read here I expected yesterday, day 3, to be awful but it was ok.   I think the toughest part is not really knowing how things will look for a couple of months

Anyway, each day is a little better and even though the first couple of days were worse than expected, they weren't god awful horrible.  I'm just so eternally grateful for the work my trainer did with me ahead of time.  Being able to get up and down without using my arms saved me so much pain.  So to any of you thinking about having the surgery, really work on your core and leg muscles.   It will save you so much pain early on

More later



tg