What helped you after surgery?

[Leah]

Haha, Rachel...that's one of my favorite books! I love David Sedaris. I'm a newbie here, had my AVR on March 6th. I have a 3 year old & an 18 month old, so they have been a huge source of motivation for me. I'm also into photography, so sometimes I take my camera on my daily walk. Very therapeutic for me. And I don't know what I would have done without this site!!! It has been a huge source of support and comfort for me

 

[Debbrn]

I had surgery in Boston across the country from were I lived. The 2 things that helped me tremendously was that my sister came and stayed with me for 2 weeks. She is a surgeon so she basically closed her practice for me for 2 weeks. No income while she had to pay her staff. She was perfect. She did not hover, but she was there if I needed her. Since we were out of town, it was almost like we were on vacation. We toured Boston as well as I could being post-op. One day I think she pushed me 2-3 miles in a wheel chair. I walked some, but there was no way I could walk that far that soon after surgery. Also the hotel we were staying in had a body pillow in the room we stayed in. It really helped positioning in bed.

I walked 2-3 times a day within 3 days after surgery. I kept that up for 3 weeks after surgery until I could walk longer all at once.

I also used a heat pack for my stiff neck after I was discharged for at least 2-3 weeks.

Debbie