Showering after a TAH?

Hello I had a shower two days after my surgery. I felt very woozy and needed someone to stay with me. The nurse sprayed something on my incision to stop it getting wet. After my shower I was exhausted and went back to bed!!

Hi Ladies,
Its been a week, still extremely sore and it sucks to only be able to sleep on you back but I am doing better. I got the catheter out yesterday and was able to pee right away. . I was able to shower while in the hospital I just could only let the water run over the incision now since yesterday and having most of the steri strips taken off I can now use a mild soap. I am going to not take any pain meds today except for motrin. Hope you are all doing well. I feel pretty good, still get really tired and I am still not that hungry.

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Originally Posted by Loves to Run I just got to thinking (and I know I'll learn about this in the hospital, or from my doctor, but I'm curious right now....), but how do you shower after a TAH? I know that you are not supposed to get your incision wet. When I had knee surgery, I just wrapped a plastic garbage bag around my knee and taped it to me knee with waterproof tape, and was able to shower that way.... but with an abdominal incison, seems kind of hard to cover it up with something waterproof... Do you just have to do sponge baths and wash your hair in the sink??? And, if you do have to wait to take a real shower, typically how long do you have to wait? I'm the kind of person where I can't go a day without showering... I just feel gross if I don't shower. I'm hoping it won't be that long without a shower! Thanks!

Loves to run,
I took my first shower at the hospital the morning after my surgery.As soon as the catheter came out they fixed my IV so they could unhook part of it and let me take my shower. That was the first time I had been able to get up so they gave me some pain medication and then I was free to shower. I was told just don't let the water hit my incision directly.It felt wonderful...I never missed a day showering after that...I finally felt human. .lol.I will be thinking about you and keep you in my prayers.
Faith
TAH Dec.5th. due to fibroids,enlarged uterus,and severe anemia

The next day the doctor removed my draining tube (from incision) and nurse removed catherter. I got up to brush teeth and was nausaous and dizzy. Held on to sink until it went away. Nurse kept trying to put me back in bed but I wanted to finish brushing my teeth!!!

Then I showered an hour or so later after breakfast. The nurse offered to help but I said I wanted wait for hubby to arrive. He sat outside the door so he could come in and help if I needed. It was great to stand under the water and clean!!

Staples can get wet. Just don't use soap or washcloth in beginning. Just rinse that area. And pat dry, no rubbing.

Just listen to your body! Do what you can and feel up to. Take it slow and easy. And let everyone wait on you!!

I showered next day also. The nurse told me the same as everyone else has said. Let the soapy water run over the incision, but dont rub, and pat dry. I had DH to stay close by for the first few days for safety reasons, but everything else I was able to do myself. I have a bar in my shwer to hold onto so that helped too!

I showered next day also. The nurse told me the same as everyone else has said. Let the soapy water run over the incision, but dont rub, and pat dry. I had DH to stay close by for the first few days for safety reasons, but everything else I was able to do myself. I have a bar in my shower to hold onto so that helped too!

I had Dermabond on the outside to close the incision, no bandage or anything, and I had the same instructions - showering is OK, just no rubbing, gently pat dry. I actually didn't feel like showering until I got home (was dealing with vomiting, and was pretty tired), but I wanted to add to the list of showering supplies, besides a chair the best thing I got was one of those "sponge on a stick" scrubby sponges, to reach back and legs, and I sit in the chair to get to my feet. A Water Pik helps to avoid directly spraying the incision.

Debbie

I had my Hyst on a Friday and showered on Monday. That shower felt SO GOOD!! I was worn out for the next few hours from it though. They said to go ahead and let water and soap run over it, but NO scrubbing. The nurse was more worried about my IV and wrapped and taped my arm where it was. She put a fresh bandage on my incision once I was dry and back in bed, and told me that once I was home, to remove the bandage, shower, and replace it with a clean one every day.

I showered the next day while still in the hospital as instructed by my doctor without covering the incision. He said just to make sure and let it dry. Then at home we have a showerhead you can also remove and hold so I made sure and hold it over my incision everyday to make sure it stayed good and clean. It is healing really well.

No advice about getting the incision wet or any post-op things since I'm still pre-op myself, but I have a suggestion on the shower chair concept.

My partner had knee surgery a while back and couldn't stand for long in the shower. A simple and usually cheaper solution to a medical shower chair is to buy one of those molded plastic lawn chairs. They're usually pretty cheap, do the job, and you can use them later in the yard.