Question:
Help! I just came home fresh open postie and I don;t know how to sleep
I am having a hard time sleeping in my bed and on the couch w/o alot of pain I don't know what else to do. — Kelley Y. (posted on April 26, 2003)
April 26, 2003
I'm still pre-op so not sure if I'll need one after this surgery, but I
recently had 2 disks removed from my neck. I couldn't find any seating in
my house to even sit in comfortably, let alone sleep since I was wearing a
hard collar on my neck. I rented a recliner from one of those Rental
Furniture places, Rent a center or something like that. It was about 75
bucks for the month, but worth it. Would a recliner work for you maybe?
— Robin H.
April 26, 2003
Hi Kelley. I had open ryn on April l4th. I was in the hospital for 5
days. When I came home I was so tired and the biggest frustration was not
finding anywhere comfortable to curl up and go to sleep.
I did end up sleeping every nite until the last two in my lazy boy
reclinger. Even then I did not sleep and was so uncomfortable.
Two nights ago I filled my bed with pillows, put a dolley next to the bed
to pull myself up on and decided I was going to bear the pain and sleep in
bed. Well, it is a real effort but finally did it for two night and did
sleep pretty well. You will feel like a writhing snake as you try to get
from one position to another.
Good luck to you and just know that it will get better.
— Maureen C.
April 26, 2003
I had lap but sleeping was difficult. I experimented with a whole lot of
pillows...I couldn't lay down flat so I propped up on a lot of pillows and
when I lay on my side, I had a pillow under my legs and in front of my
stomach. For me, the answer was in a lot of pillows...and I had several
different firmnesses but mostly soft pillows, the bigger and fluffier the
better (I used some large down pillows as well as some smaller firmer
polyester ones).
— susanje
April 26, 2003
I am a "side" sleeper and with Jackson-Pratt drains in both sides
of my belly (my surgeon removed some adhesions from an emergency appy I had
back in 1997), I couldn't sleep on either side.
<p>
What I ended up doing was two things. At least during the first week
home, I took one of the pain pills my surgeon had prescribed for me post-op
(Dilaudid). That helped to alleviate the pain and let me sleep. The
second thing was that I took a couple of pills and had my wife stick them
under 1/2 my back and hips so that I could sleep on an angle instead of
flat on my back - without going so far over as to cause discomfort from the
drains. Hope this helps...JR
— John Rushton
April 26, 2003
Like the first poster, I also rented a recliner -- but I rented one from
the pharmacy (I think they called it a "geri chair"). It was ten
days or so before I could sleep through the night comfortably in my bed.
— Suzy C.
April 26, 2003
Hey there. I would definitely look into borrowing/renting or even
purchasin a recliner. We had a really good friend who loaned me his. It
relcined all the way back into the sleeping position and straight up as
well. It also had 2 levels of vibration. I truly slept in that chair for
the almost the entire first month. I would try the bed but knew I was not
ready yet. It gave me the support I needed and we are saving to get one
now!
— Kitty Kat
April 26, 2003
RECLINER !! RECLINER !! It's the only way !! My only salvation for 5
days was the recliner my hubby went out and bought for me. Good Luck !!!
— Kewpidoll
April 26, 2003
I also slept in a recliner for a while, but my back end started getting
sore and numb after a while. Then came the pillows. I like soft pillows.
I roll to my side, lift my abdomen a bit and stick a very soft (feather or
whatever you prefer) pillow under it. Then a allow my stomach to rest on
it. I also stick a pillow between my knees to help relieve some of the
discomfort in my lower back. Hope this helps. I wish you much luck!!!!!
— Renee B.
April 26, 2003
Personally I think EVERYONE who has an Open, rent a hosptial bed for at
least two weeks. I used my Mom's bed (I felt bad about it) as I could not
sleep any other way. I just could'nt lay down flat.
— Danmark
April 26, 2003
Definite advantage to LAP. My wife slept on her belly. Me on my back for
about the first week. No hospital beds or recliner needed or wanted.
— Sam J.
April 27, 2003
I slept in my recliner most of the time, and sometimes with A LOT of
pillows or a big body pillow on the couch. During the day when no one was
home, I'd sneak into my daughters room and sleep on her futon/bunk bed. It
has a bunk on top and therefore had the bars going across the bottom and I
was able to pull myself up and over!! Worked great!! I have a waterbed, so
I didn't even try that for the first month!!! If I could have slept
standing up, I would have!! I feel for ya. Sooooooooooo glad that's over!!!
Good luck!
— Terri Z.
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