Getting out of bed

[BTMax]

So glad to have stumbled across this forum. I am 8 weeks post surgery and am still sleeping in a recliner. I can not seem to figure out how to get up out of my bed without pushing with my arms. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have tried it and do experience some pain--not severe but enough to make me not want to do it. Thanks for any help.

 

[Ambience]

When getting myself out of the hosptial bed and my bed at home, I would wiggle my legs to the side of the bed, and then hook my foot underneath the matress/frame/opening under the bed where the monsters hide, and used my leg muscles as leverage to get myself upright.

 

[MarkU]

Here's how I would do it:
Rolled onto my side facing the edge of the bed; bent my legs 90deg at the hips so that my knees were hanging over the edge, then bent my knees 90deg and rolled up from my side to a sitting position. It took some pushing with the bottom arm, but didn't twist my upper body too much. Not painless, but not too bad. Hang in there - it gets a little better every day.

Mark

 

[Mary]

I rolled to the edge of the bed, and then was able to push myself upright using my elbow (the underneath one) as leverage.
Really though, at 8 weeks you should be able to use your arms with minimal discomfort.

 

[JimL]

I'd sleep in the recliner.
I laid down on the bed a few days after coming home after surgery, and I was sure I'd never get up again. I remember it being something I did very carefully when I was finally able to try a bed for sleeping again.

 

[BTMax]

Thank you all for the suggestions--if a person hasn't been through this they just don't understand the contortions required to move around or to get comfortable. I got pretty good at picking things up and moving things around with my feet!

 

[Cris N]

I laid on my back, brought my knees up to my chest and rocked into a sitting position. It will get better!

Cris

 

[hensylee]

I did just like Mark U. Had to practice some, tho, to get it right. I didn't have a recliner where I was staying so slept in bed from day one out of the hospital. T'wasn't easy.

 

[Bionic Valve Tim]

I don't remember how long I slept in the recliner, but it was much longer than what I (and others) expected. It was less than 8 weeks, but probably not by much.

I think I got it in my head that I couldn't get out of bed, so I couldn't

I also think that, being a creature of habit, I just got used to sleeping on the recliner. After a lot of sleepless nights early in my recovery, I was hesitant to change once I settled into a routine.

This thread is another reminder of how great my wife is and how much she had to put up with. A few days after our wedding, I had my surgery, and then I had to sleep in the living room for the next month or so!

Tim

 

[OldManEmu]

BTMax I tended to use either Mark or Cris N's method or getting out of bed. It did have one minor difference when using Cris's method I held my knee with my had so I didn't have to tension my body so much in the roll. At the hospital however they had an even easier method. They had a length of soft rope tied to the foot end of the bed frame and the other end of the rope had several knots in it to assist your grip and you pulled yourself up to a seated position using this.

 

[Ross]

Yes at 8 weeks you should be able to use your arms, though I know it's not exciting to feel that pain.

 

[geebee]

BTMax I tended to use either Mark or Cris N's method or getting out of bed. It did have one minor difference when using Cris's method I held my knee with my had so I didn't have to tension my body so much in the roll. At the hospital however they had an even easier method. They had a length of soft rope tied to the foot end of the bed frame and the other end of the rope had several knots in it to assist your grip and you pulled yourself up to a seated position using this.

Similar thing - my SO tied a rope to the bottom of our bed and I used it to pull myself up. For some reason pulling didn't hurt like pushing with my arms did.