Feelings all over and recovery question!

[ccummins]

You guys are cracking me up with the bells and air horns!! I'm going to try to get by with cell phones.

Thanks for posting this! I have my parents staying in my building the first month but have told them they can go home after that. Of course they will stay if needed.

I have a question that isn't worthy of a new thread. Everyone says that while they are in the hospital that they do nothing. Like nobody says they check the internet or watches tv. Are you really that drugged up for 4-7 days that you don't feel yourself at all. And by saying that, I am saying that I am an Internet junky and can't imagine not posting here just as soon as I can!

 

[ponygirlmom]

Question though, when I get home from hospital I know I can't do much with the upper body but I will need to walk and the more the better to heal faster. Guess my question is how much help will I need from someone, experiences you all had. When you were able to be left alone, how dependent will I be???? THanks for any input!!!!

Forgive me if others have already said the same things I'm about to say. I don't have time to read all the other responses!

About walking, I would not say "the more, the better." If you overdo it, you will heal slower. I would say that you should walk every day. The distance and speed will vary.

Your degree of dependence on others in the first few weeks after surgery will depend on the layout of your house and the make of your appliances and plumbing.

Some refrigerators are easier to open than others. Some microwaves are on the counter, easy to reach, but others are above ovens. Some people have hand showers in their showers or bathtubs, which make life easier. Some houses have stairs.

Dependence may also depend on your own anatomy. Two things that are hard to do after surgery are bending over and lifting your arms over your head. If you are short, it may be hard or impossible to hang clothes. I didn't have trouble because I am tall. However, I had trouble bending over a sink. A shorter person would have an easier time doing that.

Before you go to the hospital, I would put as many things between waist and chest level as possible, and set aside table or counter space for things to be set out for you at that level -- food, cups, plates, clothes, towels, magazines, etc.

 

[ponygirlmom]

Everyone says that while they are in the hospital that they do nothing. Like nobody says they check the internet or watches tv. Are you really that drugged up for 4-7 days that you don't feel yourself at all. And by saying that, I am saying that I am an Internet junky and can't imagine not posting here just as soon as I can!

Not everyone says that! Before surgery I read many comments from people here who talked about reading, listening to music and watching TV.

Personally, I read e-mail on my husband's laptop and even posted to my "Care Page" provided by the hospital long before I could watch TV. I think two days after surgery I was propped up in my hospital bed with the laptop on the hospital tray, and three or four days after surgery I was sitting on the couch in the hospital room with the laptop on my lap. However, I absolutely could not follow any TV show. I didn't watch TV until the night before I left the hospital. I watched movies that night and all the next day. The drugs did affect my movie-watching, however; I watched a few really bad movies, and I kept thinking, "Is this a really bad movie, or is it me?" I later learned from friends that they were, indeed, bad movies.