If had TAH,have a few questions,please.

May I ask a few questions for those who had a TAH.Mine was last Monday the 28th.

How many staples do you have? I have 14.

Did your incision get red and sore a few days after surgery? My incision looked great but yesterday started burning a lot more and as hubby looked at it is real red in one area. He put hydrogen peroxide in the personal cleaning squirt bottle and squirted some on my incision and then patted it dry with a towel. Since I am obese my incision is down under my roll so to speak so it stays very moist and sweaty.

How was your way of getting up out of bed?My hubby or son has been pulling me to a sitting position and then I get up on my own. Hubby has to go back to work tomorrow so I am worried how to get up on my own.

If your incision is red, sore and burning, I would suggest you call your doctor. It could be infected but only your doctor will be able to determine that. In the meantime, I know of ladies who used to put a sanitary napkin under the roll to keep it dry. Might be something for you to try. Also, I would use hydrogen peroxide only if your doctor recommended it. Some doctors do say to dilute it in half and others say not to use anything like that. It really is best to call your doctor and ask.

As to sitting up, there is a bit of a technique to it. You need to roll to your side facing the edge of the bed. As you swing your legs over the edge of the bed, you need to take your upper hand and push against the bed beside the shoulder that is resting on the bed. Then part of the way up, you can use your the hand that was next to the bed to finish pushing yourself up. I hope that makes sense to you. It is a bit awkward to push with the upper hand but it works.

I also have a trick to make that less painful. My doctor's resident told me to take a deep breath, and as I breathe out, to do the movement that is needed. Apparently, you can't tighten up your belly muscles while breathing out and it is a lot less painful. I used that trick the whole time my incision was tender and hurting.

Hope this helps.

I am 8 weeks Post Op from a TAH and I didn't have Staples, I had Stitches and Steri-Strips. I wouldn't advise putting anything on your Incision unless the Dr ok'd it. I was told not to put anything on mine. One area on mine was Red in color up until about a week ago so im sure the redness will go ahead eventually. If its oozing or has puss then you should call the Dr. Best wishes.

Thanks ladies. Yes my dr. did recommend me to use peroxide but nothing else. If it continues being red then I will for sure call the dr.'s office in the morning. It is so sweaty under there and when I lift my belly where the incision is you can see the moisture and sweat. I shower but the water just runs over my belly unless I lift it up and wasn't sure if I should do that or not as it would really get wet. So we figured using the spray bottle with peroxide would be a better way to clean it.

Letting the water run over it was what my doctor recommended. However, I had subcutaneous stitches and steri-strips, not staples although my doctor told me the care would be the same (I did not want staples because of the way my skin heals in terms of scarring). If you can let the air get at it to keep it dry by lying down or using a blow dryer on the cool setting, that would help too.

Thank you these tips are great. Gonna lift up my belly to let the air get to it and let hubby see how it looks tonight.Will have to hold it up and boy does that hurt.

The best way to get up is to roll on to your side and push yourself up to a sitting position with your hands. You must also make sure that your keep your insicion dry! Also make sure there is no discharge coming from the incision that is a sign of infection! Trust me I have 5 major abdominal surgeries. Hope this helps out some

I got a v shaped recliner pillow to sleep on at first and used it to do the side push up other ladies describe hope that helps. Also I put a chair next to the toilet for additional support

I have subcutaneous stitches & steri-strips also. Mine was a little red at first, poured some peroxide and it's been good.

As far as getting out of bed, roll over on your side and then sit up w/ deep breaths.

I was pleasantly surprised I was able to get out of bed the night after surgery w/ some pain and sit up in a chair for 2 hours.

Hugs

The nurse at my doc's office told me that some ladies she helps do use the napkin to cover the incision. She also said to be sure and dry the area... using the hair dryer and some ladies use a rolled up washcloth in the belly bulge area to help keep that dry.

I had a TAH on Feb. 17. One thing I did early on to help myself get up was tie a jump rope to one of the legs of the bedframe at the foot of the bed. lol...it helped give me leverage when i grabbed it to help pull me up. I'm not very good at the side roll (and I should probably be). Maybe that's a new idea...maybe it will help. Of course, I got to only use that for 3 days in my own bed before I had to move to a different house (and couch) because of some home renovation.

Happy healing...