Dangers of Bending over and Incision Question

I know the doctor said not to bend over, but didn't tell me why. What is the reason? Also my incision area still has a little bit of drainage from my TAH on Nov. 12. Is this normal?
I was laying down and doing a few leg lifts and now when I move certain ways I have a burning sensation all around the bikini line area. I had a verticle incision about 10 inches long. I have redness spreading out from my incisions, but the doctor is out of town for the holidays. I get to see him tomorrow, Tuesday, and he will take out the staples. The staple will have been in for 2 weeks and a day. Do you think it is just my bodies way of rejecting those staples being in so long? Thanks for your help.
I am putting gauze and taping the edges of the bandage each day after my bath. I blow dry the incision area with my blow dying on a low heat setting and make sure it is completely dry before redressing it. Should I put some neosporin on it, since it is so red?

(((Mercy and Grace)))
I'm sorry you're hurting like this, but I'm a little taken back that you were doing leg lifts. You have incisions, inside and out that need to heal without strain. The tissue surrounding the incisions is suspeptible to tearing too, which contributes to the growth of adhesions and scar tissue. Ideally you would heal with a minimum of any of that happening. This is why we are cautioned not to bend, stretch, push, pull or otherwise strain our abdominal muscles until they have had a chance to adequately heal.

I know all drs are different, but I also wonder if your dr gave you the go ahead on taking baths? It may be fine, but I know many doctors don't allow a bath for a few weeks. I'm concerned about the redness. Do you mean it's streaking out from your incision? How far out do you mean? I think some redness is normal, but with your added pain, it sounds like you need to call and ask about this. Can you call a dr on call and describe what's happening just to be sure this isn't something that needs to be checked today?

Please take it easy today, no leg lifts. I hope this is nothing to worry about and you'll get to feeling better soon. There is a lot of information in the Checkpoints and the Post-Op Articles. It might be helpful for you to read through some of that for some more tips on what to do and not do while you recover. I hope you can talk to a dr today. Let us know what you find out.
's, Rita

I was doing gentle leg exercises, because me legs were aching from no exercises. It didn't feel like I was using any abdominal muscles, but then again I probably was to a small degree. I guess I need to leave my exercises to walking alone. I sure don't want more scar tissure or aheasion. I was full of that, they found out during my supra cervical TAH. In fact the cervix was so stuck on the bladder they couldn't remove all of the cervix, like was planned.

The redness looks like deep red bruising that is getting large by the day. The initial massive bruising that I had on my abdominen is slowly fading away, but no completely. My doctor is in surgery all day today. His staff called in an antibodic for me on Wednesday, but when I got home and saw the paper work that pharmacy sends home with the medication, I saw it causes a high risk of tendon pain and even can rupture it, when taken with prednisone which I was on, so I was afraid to take it. They have been out of the office since then. I don't think the nurse realized I was on prednisone or the interaction of these two medications or they would not have called in that particular antibodic.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will behave and no more leg exercises. I have terrible restless leg syndrome, so that is why I was trying to relieve it.

I'm not taking baths, but showers. Sorry for the confusion. I will take it easy and no more leg exercises beyond walking. I sure don't want aheasion and scar tissue. I had enough of that already inside me they said, when they did the surgery.
I can't wait until I'm not so tired. Walking is the only thing that seems to make me feel more energic and releases the endorphins to make me feel happier.

(((Mercy and Grace)))
I have restless leg syndrome too. From what I've seen on the boards it's not unusual for it to flare up after surgery. I know it can be miserable. I find taking a good calcium plus magnesium supplement makes a big difference for me. I had a dr tell me the magnesium is more important than the calcium. If you aren't taking anything, maybe you could try this to see if it relieves it for you. There are a lot of threads about this with good information. If you do a search for it, I'm sure you'll find some more ideas to try too. Be sure to mention this to your dr too. There are new medications for this that you might want to consider.

I hope you get to feeling better soon. It's amazing how often we use our abdominals, without realizing it. I know stretching feels good when your legs are restless, but maybe try standing and pressing your heal back behind you, or dropping your heal off a step to stretch your calf. Walking is a great thing to do, as long as you don't over do. Listen to your body and stop when you get tired.

I'm sure glad you caught the interaction issue on the antibiotic. What an unfortunate thing to be so out of touch. Let us know what you find out at your appt tomorrow.
's, Rita

I feel for you with the restless leg syndrome. Requip does nothing for me. I switch back and forth about every 3 months, between klonopin and neurotin. When one quits working I go to the other one and then back when it quits working. So far this is the only relief I've ever had for this. It is miserable when it can't be quieted down. I'll try the step down calf stretches. Thanks for your reply.

Hi again,
I just wondered if you have ever heard of putting a bar of soap under the sheet at the bottom of your bed to help with the RLS? I have seen it mentioned here several times and several have said it helped them.

I just was thinking maybe you would want to give it a try tonight and see if it would help yours since you are having such a bad time with it. I haven't had problems for quite a while now so I have never tried it personally. I take my calcium and magnesium faithfully and if I feel it coming on I take extra. If you're interested in trying it there is info in the internet on it, but it's simple. 'They' say no Dove and not deodorant soaps, but anything else will do the trick. I hope you find something that helps and you have a wonderful night's rest.
's, Rita