Climbing Stairs
- Thread starter Twobike
- Start date
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On day three or four after surgery the physiotherapist on the cardiac ward got me to do a flight of stairs. The protocol at the hospital is that they don't discharge you unless you can do a flight of stairs. Once home I was climbing stairs around 15 times a day as our loo is upstairs and I was living and sleeping downstairs - I can't say it wasn't exhuasting doing 15 flights a day from day seven after surgery ! At least it wasn't 15 flights all on one go LOL
Catie
Well-known member
Paleogirl, you were really on the move once you got home. I'm appreciating what you shared, too. After my op, I'll be returning to a two-story apartment with the steps outside and a dog who'll need to go out. You sound like it wasn't fun, but was doable.
It was doable, needs must and all that, though very exhausting at first. It would not have been especially safe for me to go up and down stairs several times during the night though so the Red Cross lent us a commode for me to use at night in the living room where I was sleeping on the sofa. The commode looked just like a chair when not in use. It was a godsend, though I wouldn’t have wanted to use it during the day time with family around !
I never knew till heart surgery that the Red Cross helped people in their own countries, I always thought of them in areas of disaster far away - I’m very grateful to them.
I never knew till heart surgery that the Red Cross helped people in their own countries, I always thought of them in areas of disaster far away - I’m very grateful to them.
My experience was a lot like Anne's. I was in the hospital for an extended stay (9 days due to complications) but they made sure I could climb a flight of stairs prior to discharge. Good thing for me, too, as our house is on 3 different floors. I did the stairs from the day I came home. Slowly and carefully for sure. I also planned ahead to minimize the number of wasted trips up and down, but I actually think that stair climbing, under controlled conditions and with no hurry, was a good thing for my early recovery.
One thing that’s coming back to me now, the physiotherapist advised to sit down on a chair for a couple minutes rest after climbing a flight of stairs. Our bathroom is right at the top of our stairs so we put a chair in the bathroom by the wash hand basin. I would sit on the chair and wash or brush my teeth - no way could I climb the stairs and then stand at the basin brushing my teeth for the first few weeks. It’s amazing how weak you can sometimes feel at first - but you do get stronger, no worries !
It is good to plan for this situation, and my hospital stay after AVR was 11 days owing to surgical complications resulting in a pacemaker insert about a week after, but I don't remember having any trouble with stairs when I got home. My flat is on the first floor, so admittedly I only needed to use stairs when I entered or left the building, and also I am not sure I would have said the same thing if I had two flights of stairs to contend with!
