Post Surgery tips

[BrownEyes]

Hi there.

I have a few questions as I prepare for my OHS surgery this spring. Searched the threads but didn’t find much on these particular topics:

1. I’m a side sleeper. I have a really hard time sleeping flat. I do have an electric recliner that goes flat, and also have an adjustable frame bed. My question is for you side sleepers, how long after OHS were you able to sleep in your side?

2. Showering. I read great feedback on getting a shower bench which I just ordered. But I read you can’t raise your arms above your head for a few weeks. Any tips then on how to wash your hair? I am a female with long hair so I do plan to cut it much shorter prior to surgery, but still any tips on washing when you can’t reach up?

3. Formal Cardiac rehab. How often is this usually started? Right after surgery or after you heal?

4. I own a side business and want to use my down time from my recovery to rebuild my business website. Using a laptop - what’s the less painful way? Lap desk? sitting at a normal desk? Or will that be uncomfortable?

Thanks in advance! Loved all the other tips I read to help me prepare.

 

[d333gs]

1 For the first week or so you will only want to be in a position without pain, often that is on your back. You will have to turn on your side to get up and out of bed ,so you will be able to test the sideways position.

2 If I remember correctly, I bent over and raised my hand over my head, you just have to be gentle. you have to keep your incision dry.You will also need a hair dryer.

3 They will start you walking by the second day. I was going down to the lobby to get extra coffee by the third day. After on week I started rehab at a center with other heart patients. Highly recommended.
Week one,they had us doing breathing exercises and riding bikes. Week two and going for afternoon one hour walks outside , and week three stretching was added.

4 By the second week I could sit at a desk and work on my laptop, But , at rehab they will keep you busy with exercise!

Best of look!

 

[Paleowoman]

1. I was a side sleeper too but there was no way I could sleep on my side or sleep lying down either for about six weeks. I don’t have an adjustable bed or electric recliner so I slept, sort of, sitting propped up with big cushions on the sofa in our living room with a cushion also under my knees…..I lowered the cushions with time until I was lying down at which point I experimented with side sleeping until I could do it comfortably….then I was able to sleep in a bed in our bedroom An electric recliner sounds ideal as you can start in sitting/lying position or whatever you find best.

2. I washed my hair by sitting on a chair next to the bath and kind of leaning my head over the bath so that I could hold the shower head against my head…that wasn’t too difficult.

3. I started my formal cardiac rehab around 8 weeks after surgery when my cardiologist said I should start it. But I was doing walking three days after surgery on the ward walking up and down the corridor. Doing breathing exercises too. Once home I did walking up and down the living room as it was winter and the weather very wet. In the hospital over here in the UK they check in the hospital that a person can climb stairs before they discharge you…stairs were surprisingly tiring.

4. I used my laptop right away on discharge after surgery sitting on sofa with laptop resting on my legs…..I’d often go online during the night to the valve replacement forum to get advice and encouragement….being in the UK the night was when the Aussies here were often online and also some Americans

 

[BrownEyes]

1. I was a side sleeper too but there was no way I could sleep on my side or sleep lying down either for about six weeks. I don’t have an adjustable bed or electric recliner so I slept, sort of, sitting propped up with big cushions on the sofa in our living room with a cushion also under my knees…..I lowered the cushions with time until I was lying down at which point I experimented with side sleeping until I could do it comfortably….then I was able to sleep in a bed in our bedroom An electric recliner sounds ideal as you can start in sitting/lying position or whatever you find best.

2. I washed my hair by sitting on a chair next to the bath and kind of leaning my head over the bath so that I could hold the shower head against my head…that wasn’t too difficult.

3. I started my formal cardiac rehab around 8 weeks after surgery when my cardiologist said I should start it. But I was doing walking three days after surgery on the ward walking up and down the corridor. Doing breathing exercises too. Once home I did walking up and down the living room as it was winter and the weather very wet. In the hospital over here in the UK they check in the hospital that a person can climb stairs before they discharge you…stairs were surprisingly tiring.

4. I used my laptop right away on discharge after surgery sitting on sofa with laptop resting on my legs…..I’d often go online during the night to the valve replacement forum to get advice and encouragement….being in the UK the night was when the Aussies here were often online and also some Americans

1 For the first week or so you will only want to be in a position without pain, often that is on your back. You will have to turn on your side to get up and out of bed ,so you will be able to test the sideways position.

2 If I remember correctly, I bent over and raised my hand over my head, you just have to be gentle. you have to keep your incision dry.You will also need a hair dryer.

3 They will start you walking by the second day. I was going down to the lobby to get extra coffee by the third day. After on week I started rehab at a center with other heart patients. Highly recommended.
Week one,they had us doing breathing exercises and riding bikes. Week two and going for afternoon one hour walks outside , and week three stretching was added.

4 By the second week I could sit at a desk and work on my laptop, But , at rehab they will keep you busy with exercise!

Best of look!

I am a coffee addict so it made me smile that you went down to get coffee. There’s a standing joke with my friends that since there’s a Starbucks in the lobby of the hospital, that’s how the staff will force me to walk by telling me that’s the only way I can get coffee is to go there and get it myself.

It amazes me how fast everyone says they were up and walking. I remember my dads surgeries - he was on bedrest forever in “the old days” and am so thankful for modern technology and medical advances.

 

[BrownEyes]

1. I was a side sleeper too but there was no way I could sleep on my side or sleep lying down either for about six weeks. I don’t have an adjustable bed or electric recliner so I slept, sort of, sitting propped up with big cushions on the sofa in our living room with a cushion also under my knees…..I lowered the cushions with time until I was lying down at which point I experimented with side sleeping until I could do it comfortably….then I was able to sleep in a bed in our bedroom An electric recliner sounds ideal as you can start in sitting/lying position or whatever you find best.

2. I washed my hair by sitting on a chair next to the bath and kind of leaning my head over the bath so that I could hold the shower head against my head…that wasn’t too difficult.

3. I started my formal cardiac rehab around 8 weeks after surgery when my cardiologist said I should start it. But I was doing walking three days after surgery on the ward walking up and down the corridor. Doing breathing exercises too. Once home I did walking up and down the living room as it was winter and the weather very wet. In the hospital over here in the UK they check in the hospital that a person can climb stairs before they discharge you…stairs were surprisingly tiring.

4. I used my laptop right away on discharge after surgery sitting on sofa with laptop resting on my legs…..I’d often go online during the night to the valve replacement forum to get advice and encouragement….being in the UK the night was when the Aussies here were often online and also some Americans

Thank you for the helpful info. I did order a body pillow that I can wedge up against my side in bed so I don’t accidentally try to side sleep in bed. Where did you have your surgery in the UK if you don’t mind me asking? I just was in London in October for 2 weeks and was surprised they had a Cleveland Clinic so my best friend had orders to send me there if I had any cardiac emergency while on our trip. I come to the UK quite often so love to get hospital feedback so I know where to go if I’m close and there’s an emergency.