TLH: Upcoming hysterectomy 10/3: Tips on recovering at home alone

Lap hyster keeping ovaries in Oct.

Will be home alone as have no family, am single with no kids and friends work, have super busy lives, are not close, and can offer little help, and have not offered!! Asking would be awkward and inappropriate..
Have read tips on cleaning house, preparing food, preparing rest space etc, havings books and tv etc available..read a few tips..

Anything else?
Will not have anyone staying with me.
Family are not an option!! Not close and live far away.
Am determined to get through this and will!
Am not needy.
Need alone tips, surely others have been here too?? not all of us have support.
Am fittish and super independant.


Thanks 🙂🙂

For the most part, you should be able to recover fine on your own. The biggest obstacle I think would be if you need things, can't drive and there is nowhere close enough to walk. You might check with your dr on how long before you can drive. (Probably not until you're off narcotics). If it's going to be awhile, I might might check out delivery service or rely on taxi, Uber, etc

Relax, you've got this! :-) I recovered on my own quite nicely after a three-day hospital stay.

You *will* need some sort of ride home from the hospital. If your hospital won't let you take a taxi home (the ones where I live won't), hire someone to pretend to be your new best buddy.

The more work you put into prepping your living space and stocking up on groceries and supplies, the better. Afterwards, relax. Do what your body is comfortable with and let the rest go. No one else is going to complain, right? :-)

By the time I was released from the hospital, I was walking multiple laps around the ward and sitting upright in an armchair to read. But I had a back-up plan for what to do if I wasn't up for that yet: put bottles of water, bread, fruit and pain meds next to my bed and then just sleep until I felt better, with trips to the bathroom as necessary. (This is pretty much what I do when I have the flu, etc.)

Your nurses will encourage you to get up and walking as soon after surgery as possible. Listen to them. You may not feel like it at the time, but once you get moving, it gets easier to move.

Hi Remember2017 to HysterSisters!

You can recover alone, but it will take planning. As SurprisedInNB stated you will need to get someone to drive you home from the hospital. It is also important that you tell the hospital that you will be alone - they may want to keep you an extra day or so. As coughy16 said, you will not be able to drive yourself for a bit. Note that it can be two weeks or more before you can drive. Talk to your doctor about this.

Here is an article that may help:
Living Alone and Recovering from Hysterectomy

It is important that you let much go undone in your house. For example, absolutely no house cleaning for weeks and weeks - dust bunnies never attacked anyone. Maybe get paper plates so you do not have to do dishes. Get easy cook meals, or prepared meals from the freezer that you made ahead of time.

Thanks for replies,
Am having lap hyster not TAH.
Dr says I can drive after a week
But will check at Sept pre op appt
Dont have anyone to drive me home, will use taxi.
House will be prepared!
👍🏻

Please check with your hospital/Dr to make sure they will allow you to take a taxi home,a lot of them won't allow it.

You'll be good to go with enough preparation! Highly recommend having peppermint tea and Miralax on tap. Also, the heating pad and ice packs did wonders for me.

Prep your meals in advance, have easy access to tons of water to drink, and get a bunch of pillows and blankets ready for wherever you're going to spend most your time.

I spent a lot of time in my recliner, because having my feet up relieved a lot of pressure on my belly. When I went to lay down in my actual bed, I stacked pillows under my knees to elevate my legs and avoid lying flat.

Also, take your phone with you everywhere you go, even inside your house (for example, the bathroom). If you need to contact someone for any reason - even your Dr - make sure you are able to do so without having to get your phone from another room.

Good luck!