Stairs!!!

I am scheduled for a full abdominal hysterectomy (everything goes!) on June 25th. I am 42 years old and stairs are usually not an issue for me. But I am wondering if any of you had to navigate a flight of stairs upon your arrival home after surgery? I own a two family home and live UPSTAIRS...about 25 stairs UP!!! Once I am up my hubby and sis will be taking care of me...but the thought of those stairs has me VERY concerned. Any suggestions?

Go v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y! Take a break then continue v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y! Keep a pillow on your tummy while you walk as well. That is what I have learned from this website. Good Luck!

Relieved in NY, ask your doctor about stairs before your surgery. My doctor told me that I could go up and down the stairs once a day, slowly, until the stairs didn't bother me anymore.

Since I knew about this restriction before my surgery, my DH and I planned ahead. We moved the computer, so I could spend most of my time on one level of our house. We made sure that the bed where I'd be sleeping and the bathroom I'd be using were on the same level as the kitchen and living room.

If you can plan ahead and rearrange your household to minimize stair-climbing, you'll save yourself some discomfort.

Hope this helps you. Good luck with your surgery!

Best wishes,
Helen

Thanks! Never thought of a pillow.

My bedroom is upstairs and I navigated them quite a bit once I was home from the castle. I would take my "walks" downstairs more room and a little more scenic. You will want to take them slowly, going down is better than up! I carried the little pillow around with me everywhere for about two weeks. I could still use it when I cough and its been over two months!

Well good luck and hang in there. I feel great, I still tire easy and the occassional pinch or pull but well worth it.

Dimples 5 - I am new at this but I see that your "event" is coming up next week. I want to wish you luck...and I will keep you in my prayers! Thanks for the good advice.

Here's my story of stair climbing: Op on Apri 15, released on the 19th. Since DH & DS had concerns about my being able to walk up the 3 flights I asked my DD who said ABSOLUTELY NOT STAIR CLIMBING FOR AT LEAST A WEEK FROM OP DATE. Well I arranged with a girlfriend to come to her apartment (we're New Yawkers, Manhattan). She lives in an elevator building. So on the 19th, off I went to her place to avoid my stairs. LET ME TELL YOU...I NOW WISHED I'D GONE HOME.

This is what happened. My pastor's wife baked a pan of lasgna. I ate a slice. Drank a bev. Took a Tylenol # 3 around 9pm. I was not in a lot of unbearable pain, so why did I take the Tylenol #3? Well, i did not want to be a pest to my friend. Thinking I MIGHT be in pain during the night, I took it so as not to awaken her to help me to bathroom. Well, around 1:30-ish in the morn. I began to vomit and vomit and vomit. OHHH, the stitches hurt so...then came the sweats and chilly feeling. I was weak as a wounded dog. This kept on so I took another Tylenol #3 for the pain from vomit and the stitches. BIG PROBLEM I learned later from my DD.

In a nutshell, the eating of food (I confess, I had a second helping and a brownie and navel orange) in my stomach, mixed with Tylenol #3 (that 3 stands for Codine). I did NOT know I would be allergic to Codine. Well, the wearing off of the anesthesia and the hospital Morphine that was still in my system now mixed with this Codine and my haven eaten spicy pasta and sauce w/meat caused the worst, the worst, I repeat, night of this entire ordeal.

So back to the castle I went via an ambulance. I was monitored, tested, scanned, then admitted for overnight observation. I developed a slight fever, too. My reaction was not due to the hyst op at all, but instead to the combination of Codine and food in my stomach. But by the next morn I was back to feeling groovy again and was allowed to go home.

So, why the Codine story about the stair climbing question????? Well, if I had NOT overly concerned myself with my DD's concern about whether or not I could climb those dang stairs, I would have NOT gone to my friends home in the first place. Then, too, I overconcerned myself with NOT wanting to make her feel like she had to be my personal night nurse, thus the taking of painkillers that I REALLY DID NOT NEED!!!!!!!!!!

Had I gone directly home from hosp. I would not have taken the Tylenol #3. I did not need a painkiller. I was feeling marvelous, just super great on day 4 post op.

Well, that's my story about climbing the stairs. Oh, yeah. When I came home from the second castle visit I came HOME. Walked up the three flights without a hitch. My DS, 26, gave me a booty boost (that means he used his head to butt me up the stais and that really worked. I just glided along and up, up, and away!! No problem at all. I could have done this the first time! So, if there's a lessons to learn here if it this:

1) DO NOT OVERCONCERN YOURSELF WITH OTHER'S CONCERNS. AFTER ALL HOW DID WOMEN GET UP THESE STAIRS IN THE PAST, THE BUILDING IS 100-PLUS YEARS OLD, FOR GOODNESS SAKE. SURELY SOMEONE LIVED UP HERE ON THE 4TH FLOOR AND HAD TO CLIMB THESE FLIGHTS AFTER HAVING A C-SECTION OR SUCH.

2) GO EASY ON THE FOOD...ESP. AFTER DAYS AND DAYS OF WATERY FOODS AND SOFTS.

3) KEEP A RECORD OF MEDS TAKEN IN PAST AND RECORD YOUR REACTIONS TO THEM. tHIS WILL COME IN HANDY IN FUTURE. I STARTED MY RECORED AND CODINE LEADS THE LIST!!!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS.

PS Since coming home on the 21 from castle and climbing those stairs I've been down to sit in park across from my apartment several times now. HOWEVER, DON'T GO BY MY EXPERIENCE. HEED DOCTOR'S ADVICE. I HAD A SUPRACERVICAL HYST AND THE STAIRS WAS NOT A PROBLEM BUT SOME OTHER TYPE OF HYST MAY REQUIRE THAT ONE NOT TAKE STAIRS. THIS IS MY DISCLAIMER.

BLESSINGS TO ALL

Relieved in NY--Thank you!! I can't wait. The Dr says that my Adon affects my nerves. My legs/tooishy hurts. That will all go away very soon. Along with the other pains. Woohoo

Some of the common abbreviations used here:
DH -- Dear Husband
DD -- Dear Daughter
DS -- Dear Son
DR -- Doctor

Just came home from the castle today. I walked up a flight of stairs to get to the bedroom and I honestly could not tell it was any different from before. Stairs are not a problem. Just hold the handrail and go slow.