Fine Line-don't over do it-How not to cross that line?

We all know not to over do it after surgery, is most important. But I keep reading how many wiser people than I have over done it, unintentially & am sorry for it later. What mistakes are people making, it seems we all know better but it seems to be happening to so many of us anyway. I want to do the most I can without crossing that line. I've read to listen to your body but those before me have listened to their bodies but it seems like it was too late when they got the warning message. When people say they over did it, what exactly are they doing? I don't want to over do it but I don't want to be an unnecessary couch potato either. Are there any hard fast rules to ensure you don't over do it? It's apparently a tricky line not to cross. I want to get up & walk as soon as possible. I've read to start out just walking to the bathroom, I've got that much but it sounds like anything beyond that is a guessing game, one trip down the hall sometimes not good. I've read short walks but are a dozen short walks too much, getting up & down from the couch or are these over doing people doing house work & other stuff weeks later?

Hi,

I did not have much trouble with overdoing it. I did have a few times when I was a bit sore or felt overly tired during the first weeks after surgery. My surgery was on Monday and I went to church and the store with my family the following Saturday. Sitting on the pews at church was a bit uncomfortable, but tolerable. Kneeling was more uncomfortable, so I just sat. I did not push the cart at the store or anything. I was tired when we got home and rested more the next day.

At two weeks postop, my daughters began swimming lessons and sitting on the wooden bench was uncomfortable even with a cushion under me. This however cleared up about the third or fourth day.

Mostly just follow the resting directions on this site and in the book. I did not do laundry or housework or anything the first 2 weeks and then slowly began to add things like cooking and starting laundry that someone else carried to the laundry room. my doctor even said not to be outside too much as it was midsummer when I had my surgery and he said it was too hot for me to be out for long. I still have not vaccuumed, but might today.

I am now 9 weeks postop and doing well. I have no further restrictions from my doctor and have found that the only problem is that my stomach muscles are still somewhat weak. It just makes me a bit tender if I lift something too heavy.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Judy

I think people overdoing it has more to do with things you "feel" you can do - housework, shopping, lifting things, etc. than just walking and the regular stuff.

I was going up steps when I got home from the hospital and for the first week I stayed on the couch pretty much and my only walking was from the couch to the kitchen, bedroom & bathroom. After a week I started walks around the neighborhood and would do 20 mins a day. After 2 weeks I was walking 30 mins a day every day.

I didn't over do it - I was too afraid to hurt myself to I was very cautious. The doctor gave me guidelines as to what I can & can't do at what weeks so that helped a lot.

My doctor stressed that walking was a major part of my recovery, but to stop if I felt tired. I was walking about a mile after a week. Of course, everyone then again is different. There were really only 2 things that my doctor strongly forbid me to do. Those two things were vacuum, and lift. He said no pushing things til at least 4 weeks, and to gradually increase the weight I was lifting, up to 5 lbs. the first 6 weeks. Along with his verbal instructions, he also gave me a list of do's and don'ts. I am now 2 weeks post-op and am feeling wonderful. Other than slight tenderness around my incision. I have been driving short distances since 1 week post-op. He said that since I was on no medication this would be fine, but if I was not comfortable not to do it. Hope this helps you.

You're right, it is a fine line. It's most important to follow the instructions that your DR will give you regarding lifting, how much and what type of activity.

There are constant stories over on the PostOp forum about ladies who were "feeling so good" that they thought a shopping trip to Wal-Mart was a great idea, then they were in so much pain or so tired that they had to spend a couple of days lying down. Or some other activity seemed innocent enough with the same results. One thing to keep in mind is while you are still taking the prescription pain meds you may be masking any discomfort and it can make it easier to overdo without being aware of it.

Yes, everyone heals at their own rate, but for the first couple of weeks REST REST REST. One wise HysterSister gave me a rule of thumb to follow in the early weeks - and it helped. For every hour you are up and active (and remember, sitting at the computer is considered an activity because you aren't reclining) another hour should be spent resting in a reclining position.

Best wishes!

If I have a vaginal hyst, how does pushing things do harm to me? I've read people don't even push shopping carts, how come?

	Quote:
Originally posted by stacyshan If I have a vaginal hyst, how does pushing things do harm to me? I've read people don't even push shopping carts, how come?

Pushing and pulling things engages your abdominal muscles. I don't think that it matters that there is no exterior incision, it's still going to hurt. I was wondering how I'll take my dogs for a walk, my kids are going to busy for a while!

	Quote:
Originally posted by stacyshan If I have a vaginal hyst, how does pushing things do harm to me? I've read people don't even push shopping carts, how come?

Because even with a vaginal hyst there is still a lot of work - cutting, stitching, etc - internally that you can't see and can't know when it's completely healed. The adbomen is the center part of the body, it's used for just about everything. Pushing a shopping cart or vacuum cleaner is very hard on those muscles which can cause the stitches to pop before the healing has taken place. While you're pre op, really pay attention to exactly what muscles are used for your day to day activities. That may help you to understand why it's so important to not overdo.

I know I really should get this & being so nieve going into this thinking it's going to be just like when I had my baby/tubal, I'm going to find out the hard way I think. So what is the big deal about not using stomach muscles, I thought their main function was to protect our organs. Can we not use any stomach muscles, we use them for everything, in every move we make or we just have to watch the lower stomach muscles. Odd to think my uterus & stomach muscles are that closely connected. And how does using our stomach muscles effect our uterus that is no longer there? Will our stomach muscles contracting have a way of tearing our stitches or something? How many stitches will we have anyway?

How will I ever explain it to my dog that "I", can't walk her anymore. But your right I can't, one squirrel & I'd be in some major pain.
For that matter I hope my dog doesn't jump up on my stomach while I'm sleeping or resting, like she often does. Ouch!