Tip for sitting up after surgery...
I was given a tip from one of my nurses when I had my 1st C-section. It was soooo difficult to sit up for the first few days, and I'm sure every one of you have, or will, experience something between uncomfortable pressure to extreme pain when sitting up after surgery.
Anyway, if you can manage it physically, it will greatly lessen the discomfort. While laying on your back, raise one leg up and grab behind the knee (I always raise my left leg and grab with my right hand). Using your leg as a lever or counter balance, lower your leg and let it 'lift' you up into a sitting position. I always compared the movement to one of those desk things, long rectangle filled with colorful liquid, on a pedestal that balances it in the center. It tips slowly back and forth and the liquid passes smoothly from one side to the other. Your body works very much the same...your shoulders become one end of the rectangle box, your knees the other, and your butt is the balancing pedestal. Your motion, leg down, shoulders up, should be a smooth rocking motion.
This also works laying back down...grab behind your knee, let your shoulders down as your leg goes up. If you figure it out without using your abs so much, your pain should be considerably less.
Good luck to ya! If you are preop, try it a couple of times before surgery...you will AMAZE the nursing staff at how quickly you are able to stand, since it the actual act of sitting up and laying down that is so uncomfortable ;)
Anyway, if you can manage it physically, it will greatly lessen the discomfort. While laying on your back, raise one leg up and grab behind the knee (I always raise my left leg and grab with my right hand). Using your leg as a lever or counter balance, lower your leg and let it 'lift' you up into a sitting position. I always compared the movement to one of those desk things, long rectangle filled with colorful liquid, on a pedestal that balances it in the center. It tips slowly back and forth and the liquid passes smoothly from one side to the other. Your body works very much the same...your shoulders become one end of the rectangle box, your knees the other, and your butt is the balancing pedestal. Your motion, leg down, shoulders up, should be a smooth rocking motion.
This also works laying back down...grab behind your knee, let your shoulders down as your leg goes up. If you figure it out without using your abs so much, your pain should be considerably less.
Good luck to ya! If you are preop, try it a couple of times before surgery...you will AMAZE the nursing staff at how quickly you are able to stand, since it the actual act of sitting up and laying down that is so uncomfortable ;)
Thank you for the tip and am sure some could use it. But mine was laparoscopic surgery just a few little holes here and there. I had no pain at all. I could bounce in and out of bed with ease. I had thougth I was going to have a lot of pain and set myself up at my home to not do much as I thought I would not be able to move very well. I was wrong. If I worked, I am retired, I could have gone to work the next day. Never used any pain meds still have them here at the house. But that is just me others may not be so lucky and I am sure your handy tips will help them, I am just glad I had no pain at all.
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after i went home after a couple of days after surgery i slept in a recliner for at least 2 days and then i started to hate sleeping in the chair, when i went to sleeping in bed and when i wanted to get out i just rolled on to my side and used thehead bored to slowly pull my self up to sitting position, and it realy helped, but realy by the time that had left the hospital i wasnt hurting as i was after surgery..
Surgery 6/5/12
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