Getting Comfortable Around the House???

[tdrother]

Good Morning,

Well I am getting closer and closer to going under the knife. I am not so worried about the procedure as I believe I have done my research and selected a very competent surgeon. But I am also not looking forward to the recovery period afterwards. So what have others been using to make themselves comfortable at home during their recovery? What devices/things have people been using to prop themselves up in bed? Using to reach things in the kitchen? Using in the shower? Etc. Etc...

Thanks for the help,
Todd

 

[Marguerite53]

I suspect you'll be getting lots of suggestions!! I think you will find that the recovery, if you have a great surgery (which you sound quite prepared to have! ) is not as difficult as you are imagining. You simply cannot do things normally. You really have to be patient with yourself.

Simple things like opening the refrigerator (or those protective Rx caps from the pharmacy!) will be surprisingly difficult for a few days. You will figure out ways to compensate. You won't want to be pulling things like wet laundry out of the washer. It will be uncomfortable getting up and down for awhile, scrubbing your back, putting shirts on over your head. But you can do it.....just very slowly and carefully.

Lots of pillows (soft squishy ones), a neck roll (cylindrical type pillow), and a recliner (I slept in mine for 2 months or more) were really all that I used.

Bring things that you use frequently to the table top or counter top. Bending over and reaching deep into cabinets is no fun. Stretching to the top shelf is not fun.....pulling up windows, or sliding them shut sideways is no fun.....that kind of thing.

Take care! You'll be ready!!

Marguerite

 

[RandyL]

I suspect you'll be getting lots of suggestions!! I think you will find that the recovery, if you have a great surgery (which you sound quite prepared to have! ) is not as difficult as you are imagining. You simply cannot do things normally. You really have to be patient with yourself.

Simple things like opening the refrigerator (or those protective Rx caps from the pharmacy!) will be surprisingly difficult for a few days. You will figure out ways to compensate. You won't want to be pulling things like wet laundry out of the washer. It will be uncomfortable getting up and down for awhile, scrubbing your back, putting shirts on over your head. But you can do it.....just very slowly and carefully.

Lots of pillows (soft squishy ones), a neck roll (cylindrical type pillow), and a recliner (I slept in mine for 2 months or more) were really all that I used.

Bring things that you use frequently to the table top or counter top. Bending over and reaching deep into cabinets is no fun. Stretching to the top shelf is not fun.....pulling up windows, or sliding them shut sideways is no fun.....that kind of thing.

Take care! You'll be ready!!

Marguerite

Just listen to the above advice and you will be fine.

"Margie Knows Best"

old TV show if youre old enough to remember

 

[Adrienne]

The first few days, I used a plastic lawn chair ito sit on n the step-in shower we have in the basement. My husband rigged up two rolled up towels with these elastic things that are supposed to be for the ironing board cover, but I used them to put the rolled up towels around my neck when I slept, so that the roll protected by sternum in case my husband accidently elbowed me! He got the idea of that because in the hospital they gave us rolled up towels and called it our baby!! I have a chaise longue (like a recliner) in the basement to watch TV. I used it for TV and for reading. My husband made the bed for 2 months so I wouldn't have to strain with the mattress. He did the laundry for quite a while also and cooked the first 5 days I was home, but I started getting bored and took over the cooking (easy stuff).

 

[lynn]

Start practicing the *booty scoot* as my nurses called it! That's that scooting side to side to get out of the bed, you can't use your hands or arms to get out for awhile!

 

[davidfortune]

They'll show you how to roll on your side, swing your feet out, and use your down-side elbow to prop yourself out of bed. Reverse the procedure to get back in bed. This was awkward the first couple of time for me, but I quickly figured it out.

I slept in my own bed last night (first night home) with a "pillow ramp" mimicking the inclined hospital bed. Laying flat just isn't too comfortable yet. Slept like a baby once I got to bed.

Just remember once you get home the walk to the bathroom and back, and to the kitchen and back, and to your home-office and back, and to the mailbox and back, and to the laundry room and back, and to the store and back, and to the bathroom and back again (several times), and to the kitchen and back (again several times) are all much further than you walked in the hospital the first few days. Take into account the extra distance. Let people get stuff for you when they can (obviously they can't pee for you so you'll have to make the bathroom walks).

Keep your heart pillow handy for coughs or sneezes (and to protect from the over-zealous dog if you have one).

That's it for my first day home. I personally have no problem with the fridge or Rx bottles or a regular shower but we're all different. I just have to work to remember not to use my arms to push myself up.

David

 

[hensylee]

I was going through stuff today and found my discharge printed orders with list of thing to do/not do at home. The shower. They suggested that a shower can be taken when there is no sign of infection and the area is dry. Use just clear water or use a mild soap. Rinse and dry well (carefully), maybe have someone nearby, use a bath stool if you are weak.

some have used a laZ-Y-BOY chair to sleep in at first. I didn't - managed to learn on my own how to sleep in bed, but it was not easy. Soreness

Some have a body pillow for placing beside you in bed to lean on.

Walking helps to take away soreness and get breathing back where it should be. Be sure to use your spirometer often (the breathing machine thingy).

Carry your little pillow with you everywhere, including the bathroom.

DON'T SNEEZE!

 

[Magic8Ball]

Spent the first week at my parents just to avoid the kids jumping on me and slept in a soft normal bed.

Once i got home i slept in the lazyboy recliner (even though i'd been in a bed at mums) just found it better to sleep in than my bed which seemed a little hard. I'm now in my own bed at 4 weeks.

Get a V shaped pillow and take it to hospital...this was a godsend for me and helped me sleep in the early days. The getting in and out of bed using legs actually made me pull a muscle in my shoulder so i was in a lot of pain, once the v shaped pillow arrived (day 4 or 5) i was the happiest man on the ward.

Keep your little cough pillow with you at all times, i stopped carrying it around after 2 1/2 weeks but still had a couple of oops moments that brought a tear to the eye.

Definately don't sneeze until 4 weeks plus....not sure how you can ensure this but coughing is a discomfort, sneezing is hell on earth. I did it twice and one of the times reduced me to tears so keep the windows shut and the aircon on and if anyone brings you flowers say thanks and stick them in the trash

If you smoke, stop it well before surgery and let your body get over it (lots of coughing), otherwise you will be doing it the week after surgery....you have been warned...

I bought a plastic chair for the shower but never used it.

I bought a very mild baby shampoo and used it for a shower gel, good idea as you tend to get it in your eyes as you are not as nimble with overhead actions and my eyes seemed to be a little more sensitive as well.

Get your hair cut way short....i had mine cut #3 on the shaver....manky hair post op is not a good look...neither is shaved come to think of it but at least it stays clean and tidy.

I'm being mothered by both my wife and my mother so i can't give insight into what is difficult to do around the house as ive done nothing but certainly some doors are difficult to open and need to be 'pushed' with my ass. A few heavy items that were on the top shelf were beyond my reach and i needed assistance to get things down.

My biggest issue was sleep, i just couldn't get to sleep post op and so had to get some stronger sleeping pills from the local GP....i thought it was the beta blockers but then week 3 it just fixed itself so i guess its one of those bypass issues that affect us all....i got some relaxing music on my ipod, lay in the recliner, popped a pill and within 1/2 an hour i was asleep for 6.

If you can gleam any help from the above then great

Regards.

 

[Magic8Ball]

Oh and if you don't have a cordless phone get one and actually keep the thing next to you at all times.

The number of times i've gotten comfortable and the phones gone and i've had to move cause ive left the phone somewhere else is unreal.

 

[kodi]

I ditto Marguerite. I didn't have a recliner and was going to rent one but decided to sit in a nice comfortable chair then stretch my legs out to another chair with extra pillows on it so my feet would be raised. When I napped, I did it on a love seat so I'd make sure my feet were elevated on the arm rest. Remember when your not supposed to cross your legs or feet at the ankles. I slept in my own bed from the first night I was home and made no extra provisions for the shower or other things around the house.

 

[marciemarine]

I,ve been sleeping in a recliner since I find it hard to get comfortable in bed yet. I normally slept on my side and fins sleeping on my back difficult unless my head is raised almost to a sitting position. My oldest son is coming home for a visit before the holidays with his girlfriend, so I'll have to find a way to sleep (or not) in the bed.
My husband is a smoker and even though he mostly smokes outside, I find the cigarette smell repulsi in our room! Marcie

 

[Magic8Ball]

Oh great, I ALLWAYS sneeze 3 times.

And what is a cough pillow ?

A cough pillow for me was a standard towel which was wrapped into a small pillow shape and then taped in that position. You hold it TIGHT across your chest and press when you cough or sneeze to keep things in the same position and beleive me it stays with you for the first 3 weeks....never leaves your sight.

I allways sneezed violently as i suffer from hayfever but i have 'swallowed' at least 10 sneezes during these early weeks...my mind/body just will not allow me to sneeze. I think the worst of the hayfever season is over here thank god as ive had some nights where i've sneezed 30+ times, had that been the early weeks post surgery i'd have asked to be put in a coma until winter...

 

[WayneGM]

Some great advice so far. I can't add anything more than what's already been said other than my wife was nice enough to prepare food that was easy for me to heat up for lunch. I like to lounge around the house in sweats in the winter. However, putting on pull over tops is kind of tough the first few weeks, so I bought some of those that zipper up in the front.

Good luck

 

[Lynlw]

A cough pillow for me was a standard towel which was wrapped into a small pillow shape and then taped in that position. You hold it TIGHT across your chest and press when you cough or sneeze to keep things in the same position and beleive me it stays with you for the first 3 weeks....never leaves your sight.




Some hospitals provide them, but don't count on it, you could also use a small throw pillow, or if you have a sewing machine you can make one (or have someone make you one, people are always looking for good ways to help you) out of fleece and polyfil, which also are machine washable. another good thing about making one, is a 1/2 a yard of fleece and bag of polyfil is enough to make a couple pillows, so you can make extra's and donate the others to your hospital for other patients. for teens/adults we made rectangles about 18x 13, here's a picture to get an idea http://tchin.org/portraits/justin-2.htm
Lyn

 

[ruth]

About sneezing.....

If you press on the skin above your lip and below your nose, right at the midline where those little bumps are, pressing hard can sometimes ward off a sneeze. It works for me, sounds like it would be handy postoperatively. You can do it discreetly using the knuckle of your right index finger. I've used this technique to avoid sneezing in a meeting so folks don't leap back like I've got the plague. It's not 100% but it does work more often than not for me.

Take care and good luck, I have my first meeting with the surgeon tomorrow myself so I'm lurking on this thread for ideas.

 

[Jkm7]

All of the suggestions above are very helpful and many will make your recovery more comfortable.

This will sound silly but was relevant for me. Luckily, I was able to sleep in my bed from my first night home but after having been in CICU and CCU for ten days with all those meds still in me, I felt somewhat disoriented and I worried that when I woke during the night, I could be confused about where I was. I was feeling very drugged.

Directly across from our bathroom is a full flight of stairs so I had my dear husband put out a night light. We never have one there but it gave me confidence and security without having to put on full lights when I awoke at night.

Of all the 'things' that provided me the post comfort it was pillows. Gather extras to have on hand as you probably will find them helpful.

Good luck.

 

[DeWayne]

things to make sure you have.

1. a scale (weigh yourself every day)
2. a thermometer (take temp every day)
3. a box of tissues easy to reach as you will cough.
4. A recliner is handy (slept in mine for almost 6 weeks)
5. Prepared food so you pop it in the microwave with little effort.
6. A pillow of some sort to hold tight while coughing (no sneezing I hope)
7. For me it was the tv in the bedroom, recliner moved in there as well with wireless headphones so I could watch while wife slept (as my hours of sleeping were never regular for the first few weeks)
8. A giant cup of water (you will drink plenty!)
9. Pain pills close by for the first couple weeks.
10. I would recommend you get a blood pressure machine that also tracks heart rate, I got mine for I think it was $40 at walmart
11. Stay away from caffine, so as a cokaholic I had a bit of withdrawl, but non carobonated lemonade etc worked well when I got tired of water.
12. Food might taste pretty bad or abnormal for a time, try different stuff till you find something that tastes decent. For me beef and potatoes took forever, but pork was ok right off the bat. I lived on Jimmy Dean sausage and egg croissants the first couple weeks lol that and pork tenderloin sandwiches.

I hope you go through it with flying colors and have a quick recovery.

 

[tdrother]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I will try to compile a list of all the suggestions and post it somewhere on this site for others to use. Again thanks to all.

 

[Magic8Ball]

One thing not yet mentioned is the use of a 'stool softener' eg, a laxative of some type.

The hospital were only interested in getting an initial bowel movement and they they were happy but things will be messed up for a while.

I've taken 15ml of lactulose since discharge from hospital and it's been great....you really don't want to be straining on the toilet during those early weeks.....especially if you need to stay on the pain meds which may block/harden things up.

 

[Der Biermeister]

Todd -- for the first 3 nights at home, I used one of those bolster pillows (the kind that props you up). I had heard I would need to be in a recliner. But that didn't turn out to be the case. On the 4th night, I just used my regular pillows and slept just fine from then on.

I think the key is not to spend any time at all in bed other than when you need to sleep. I stuck to that routine right from the first day I woke up after the surgery. I will admit - the first couple of nights in the hospital were hard to maneuver in the bed for things like trying to sit up to get out of bed, etc. But progress is incredibly fast.