Can I stay home alone after hysterectomy? TAH

My hubby took the day i came home off but after that I was on my own. I have four kids three teenage girls and one boy that is 8. They fended for themselves for dinner and I just took care of myself. My husband was working noon to 8 at night so he was home at night but I pretty much did everything myself, including going to the bathroom and getting out of bed. It can be done. we do what we have to do! Just don't do any more than you have to. I layed in bed most of the time the first week and watched tv and played on my laptop.

In my case, I was in the hospital for 2 days afterwards. I was able to move around the day after and it was easy for my to move around....slowly by myself. I have a 1 year old and had a lot of help with him, but I had no problem caring for myself. Just make sure you have a place to sit and get up easily and also make sure you can get out of bed easily. Get some freezer food, soups, sandwich stuff and then you will be set. If you can spare the extra expense of having someone clean your house really well before surgery and have someone come to your house at least once a week to help clean up, you should definitely do that. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by MellyMa If you set up well. Have pre cooked meals that just need heating up, have someone come clean, have timers set to remind you to take your meds and take it easy I think it's possible. Any sort of cleaning will be hardest for the first week, but if you can handle the mess, then don't worry. I wish you luck!

Mellyma made a great point of setting timers for meds. My boyfriend was there the first day and half of the second day home. He made a list of times and what meds to take at those times (alternating prescription meds and OTC). That helped tremdously. The other ladies are right, get easy to make meals. Sandwiches, frozen or any microwavable dinners. Remember to take it easy and listen to your body. You got this!
Cheers to a successful surgery and healthy speedy recovery!
Tammy

I had a TAH 5 weeks ago. I agree with the others - if you must be alone then prepare your meals/snacks and set up your "stations" where you will be resting and sleeping with your phone, pillows, meds, water, snacks, magazines, books, remote control, etc.
Of course, be careful getting up and down so you don't hurt yourself or fall. I was alone during the daytime for the first week and did fine. Just rest a lot and take it easy!

I had a TAH and was released three days after surgery. A friend drove me home from the hospital. (This is something you will defintiely *not* be able to do yourself.) After that, I was on my own with my two cats. We did just fine!

Before surgery, I gave the apartment a good scrub, did all the laundry I could and stocked up on groceries and toiletries. (I went kind of overboard on this part. I had cases of canned beans in my bedroom, and it was six months before I needed to buy toilet paper or cat kibble again.)

Honestly, my recovery was like a relaxing vacation. I didn't have to worry about cleaning or shopping! And for the first week, all I wanted to eat were things like yogurt, fresh fruit, peanutbutter toast and canned soup. Even if I'd felt like cooking, my body wasn't interested in eating anything else. I slept whenever and wherever I wanted to, went for lots of short walks in my immediate neighbourhood, read, sewed and played with the cats.

I'd made an arrangement with my upstairs neighbour that I'd call her or pound on the wall in case of emergencies, but there were no emergencies. She'd also offered to pick up prescriptions or groceries or whatever, but I never needed to ask her to do that. By the time I ran out of yogurt in my third week after surgery, I could walk to the supermarket and buy more.

If you do have to be by yourself, please do a couple things:

1) Cook and freeze meals beforehand to be heated up easily and quickly. Fall in love with paper plates.

2) Sleep propped up. Lots of pillows on the bed make it much easier to get up and down out of bed on your own.

3) Keep your pain pills RIGHT BY THE BEDSIDE with a bottle of water with a pull-spout so you can take them at night without having to get up. I had to take the percocets on a four-hour schedule, which meant setting an alarm to take them in the middle of the night. Having them and a bottle of water right nearby was a lifesaver.

4) Keep your phone on your self at all times.

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Originally Posted by BornACrone ...2) Sleep propped up. Lots of pillows on the bed make it much easier to get up and down out of bed on your own...

Unless you're like me and can't sleep comfortably on your back at all. I slept on my side with a pillow against my belly for support. Before I left for the hospital, I hauled my exercise machine over to my bed on the thought that the handlebars might be useful to grab onto when getting out of bed. This proved to be a good idea. :-)

I also took naps in my "day nest" in the living room, which was basically a pile of pillows on the floor, as I don't have a couch. I got up from that using nearby pieces of furniture for support.

Just move slowly and give yourself time to work out how your body is able to move without pain or stress.

Could you buy or rent a small refrigerator to keep right by you? That would really help. And when you do feel "okay" enough to get around, you could heat up some meals in a thermos or two and have that as well. Don't forget to stack lots of fluids around your nesting place as well.

I hope all goes well. It is super hard to not have help and not everyone has family, friends or neighbors that can be there.

Before I had surgery, I wondered what kind of shape I'd be in when the hospital released me. Would I be able to navigate my apartment, 40' by 20'? Would I at least be able to crawl from my bed to the washroom?

What actually happened is that the morning after surgery, a nurse hauled me out of bed to walk a lap around the ward. She did the same thing that afternoon. By the second day after surgery, I was taking myself for multiple laps around the ward. I had no trouble walking from my hospital room to my friend's truck when I was released on the third day and no trouble at home.

Since abdominal surgery usually comes with a longer hospital stay - mine was three days with an option to stay for a fourth - you have people to take care of you the first couple days right after surgery. Myself, I was pleasantly surprised by how mobile I was by the timeI got home. I could not only get around my apartment handily, I could walk around the block outside!

If you have stairs, that could be a bit dicey. Pre-planning to limit the number of trips you have to make is in order.

Don't forget to store things a little higher so you don't have to bend for the first couple of weeks. I also had a little box on the table beside the bed so I had meds of any kind, tissues, bottled water, magazine etc in. I also had my phone and charger ready for the no bend rule.

Well Wishes!