If I wait till it hurts, isn't that too late???

Hi Ladies

Went to dr yesterday two weeks post op. Now when this whole prolapse happened my ob/gyn sent me to this guy as a specialist. During surgery he was the main guy and ob/gyn assisted.
So I had a list of ten questions He said two things to me
1. This is the time when you have to be careful about what you do, because you are feeling better.
2. Then he proceeded to say. Listen to your body if it hurts stop doing it.
Well if I wait till it hurts isn't too late!!!!!!!!!!!!
He gave me absolutely no guidelines. NONE.
So please my sisters, share with me your instructions so I have a clue and do not hurt myself..

to all

Harley

I got basically the same thing. Proceed cautiously, slowly, and use common sense. Try something normal (but new since surgery) doing it slowly and see if it feels okay. If it does then continue to proceed cautiously but if anything starts to hurt, stop. The one absolute though was still absolutely nothing over 10 pounds till after the 6 week check.

Does it sound silly? Sure to a degree but I think the point my doc stressed that yours seems to have left out is to try going slowly first and gradually to see if you start to feel discomfort and then stop. I'm looking around the house and it needs a dusting. I'll get it done very slowly, push everything onto the floors, sweep the kitchen mess onto one of the carpets and ask DH to take 5 minutes to vacuum when he gets up. I think that is what my doc meant. Same thing like with driving and it makes sense....if you can't move your legs freely and comfortably to walk, you can't use your gas and more importantly brake pedal properly either! So, no driving for me yet! lol

I think it is hard for them to go through a list of things we do and say yes no yes yes yes no.....we have to start testing our bodies slowly now. And yeah Harley, I'm right there with you scared to death that I'm going to hurt something inside but he assures me if I go slowly and stop at a twinge of pain, it will be okay.

hugs
K

Good Morning, Harley,

Ok, here are MY guidelines. Stairs, only once a day up and down. NO vacumning or mopping. No heavy lifting..use a gallon milk jug as your guide...nothing heavier than that. She said very light chores..such as dusting and wiping counters. Nothing that you have to bend deeply either. So basically, not much of anything lol.

I am finding just to take it easy over all and not do anything that will hurt me. I don't know if you read my chewing out post..but you can read there what I did the other day and I started bleeding...I thought what I was doing WAS easy stuff..but nurse said I did too much. So now I am NOT taking any chances. I get myself something to eat, lay, sit awhile...get on here and chat with my sisters, and plan on getting into my crocheting now that my mind is more clear and some reading. I don't care if the house collapses around me after the stunt I pulled the other day...hubby is in this week..that was lucky cause he normally travels..so he's been cleaning up in the evenings.

I hope I helped clarify some things. I know everybody gets basically the same instructions....so take it easy girl! The work will be there later on when you're up to it lol.

Hugs, love and prayers!

Harley -

I have for the past 4 weeks pretty well done nothing that involved lifting. For me I figured that was most critical. This weekend, I could no longer stand the crunchy floors (DH and dogs) and it was raining (wet crunchy floor after DH let dogs in) so I swept and mopped. It was 'too much' and I was sore the next 2 days. That being said, its kind of hit and miss.

I still won't lift anything over 15 pounds. But I having been trying a little bit more each week.

Its frustrating when Drs won't set exact limits but they are right, we are our own best guages of what we can do. You might look at the check points on this website for whats a good guideline (its not Dr issued but a good outline and sens your Dr didn't give much, you might find it helpful).

I'll say one last thing, my aunt (Surgical Nurse) had a different though on the dangers of weeks 3 to 5 than people just overdo it because they are feeling better. She said during this time your internal stitches are dissolving and your body isn't quite as healed as the stitch that is no longer supporting. I hope that makes sense! I don't know if she's right but it really struck a nerve with me and I think was key in my resolve to be very careful what I undertake.

Best wishes with your recovery.

Julie

My doctor said basically the same thing. Listen to your body...if you are getting uncomfortable, if something hurts, stop and rest. I think it is valid advice for any time, not just post-op time. But how many of us trudge on with backaches, headaches or whatever because things must be get done!?

My doctor was adamant about NOT lying around all day. I am to rest a lot, but not spend the day in bed or on the couch. The goal is to get more and more mobile each day, with the eventual goal of returning to a normal activity level, just listening to the cues my body gives me about when enough is enough.

When I went in for my pre-op, the nurse did tell me to mark my calendar for 2 weeks post-op because that is when people start feeling better and inevitably start doing too much, too soon. I have found that to be perfectly true and I'm trying to rein myself in because I FEEL like I can do so much, but after a while, my body tells me it's a little too much.

I would not worry so much about the micro details...you can do this, not that...use your judgement, don't carry around 30-pound bags of cat litter, and rest when you are tired.

Harley, in your post you didn't say exactly what type of surgery you had but it sounds like prolapse repair was part of it. Take it from me, unless you want to have this surgery again in the future it is very important to take care of yourself and not push things. After my second prolapse surgery I was told not to lift anything more than 5 pounds, about the equivalent of 1/2 gallon of milk or a large phone book. They even made me weigh my purse and told me if I couldn't lighten the load not to carry one. I wasn't allowed to do any housework, laundry, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming. No loading the dishwasher, no bending or stretching. I was not allowed to stand for more than one hour at a time. I couldn't drive for 2 weeks. It was the longest 6 weeks of my life and for sure the most boring. It was so hard not to exceed that weight limit.
If you have questions about exactly what you should and shouldn't do at your stage of recovery you should call your Dr and ask him to be more specific. Not doing anything that hurts is not specific enough for me!!
Michelle

Thanks for responding I feel better now. I spoke to ob/gyn and she was a little more specific.
Candy I had a vh, a/p repair and bladder sling.
I have been a wreck about the repairs and sling because although he did not tell me anything else, dr said it was very difficult to do a second repair surgery. From your post it sounds that way. Any other advice you can share re this surgery would be greatly appreciated

to all You guys never let me down!!!

Harley