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Advice on planning for post-op?
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01-02-2005, 09:28 AM
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Guest
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Posts: 69
Hysterectomy: January 31st, 2005
Ovaries: Undecided
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Advice on planning for post-op?
As I try to get ready for surgery (SAH, I think; we're deciding about ovaries and an actual date this Weds.), I keep finding new things I didn't know I needed to know.... :/
So: first of all, I have 1 bathroom in my house, which on the first floor. My bedroom, of course, is on the 2nd floor, and I've been told I'll need to avoid stairs for a while. I can sleep in the living room if I have to (pull-out couch) but I know I'll be more comfortable in my own bed. How soon did other people manage to get up and down stairs - or do you have any other suggestions? I know there must be options I'm not thinking of....
Second, I don't have a shower. I used to have, and can probably get again, one of the handheld shower thingies that attach to the tub's spout, and I know my partner will help me, but if anybody's got a creative solution to this one, I'd love to hear it!
Third.... We just found out that my partner, who had a brain tumor last year, has to have more tests to make sure there hasn't been any regrowth. If there is, and please god there isn't, they can just repeat the procedure they did last spring, but that means about 4 weeks on heavy steroids. And that in turn means my partner is not going to be as steady or as physically strong as we'd assumed. We've got people to help with some of the obvious stuff, like walking the dog, and any period when neither one of us can drive, but if our recoveries overlap, I'm scared that it's going to be really hard. (I think I can put off my surgery if I absolutely have to, but it's got to happen soon.) There's still a chance we won't have to deal with this - the test is Friday - but I'm trying to get prepared. Any and all suggestions would be gratefully appreciated!!
Melissa
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01-02-2005, 12:45 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 294
Hysterectomy: October 22nd, 2004
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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Advice on planning for post-op?
Talk to your doctor about the stair thing. I didn't have any problems with stairs even in the hospital (went to the other end of the floor to orthopedics and tried the stairs they used for therapy). My doctor's instructions were for all activites, "if it hurts, don't do it."
I used one of the hand held shower attachments and was able to shower on my own as soon as I got home. My big problem was shaving my legs, so had my husband help with that.
God forbid, if you and your partner have to have overlapping recoveries, see what you can get friends/ relatives to help with. It may also be possible, depending on type of insurance coverage you have, to have a home health nurse or aide come, if your doctor writes a script for it. You may be stronger than you think when it comes to taking care of yourself (it WILL take a lot longer to do things, though), but you will need help with household chores. If you have to, leave the unimportant things go, and have friends help with the rest.
Good luck and let us know how things work out.
Sara
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01-02-2005, 01:32 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 2,784
Hysterectomy: October 25th, 2003
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Advice on planning for post-op?
You can talk to your doc about stairs,but it really should be avoided for a while. There was a sister on the postop board who fell down her steps, I think she was 5 weeks postop and is having spotting etc.
My suggestion is to stay downstairs for at least 3-4 days. Even though you may be careful, the pull of going up and down the stairs everytime you have to go to the bathroom is going to end up hurting you. Plus you will probably be on pain meds which will make you unsteady so you have that extra risk of falling. Do you have a recliner? If you don't do you have any family or friends that would let you borrow one for a few weeks?
I don't know what I would have done without mine and my house is all on one floor!
It is just not worth risking it for me. Plus if you were on the same floor as the bathroom you won't need as much assistance as you would going up and down the steps.
I will send a prayer for your partner that everything is okay
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01-02-2005, 01:52 PM
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HysterSister
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Posts: 6,053
Hysterectomy: February 5th, 2002
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Advice on planning for post-op?
Each DR varies with their post op restrictions. I had no restrictions on stairs. I have a bathroom on both floors though, so once I was downstairs in the morning I had no reason to go back up til bedtime. It will depend on how often you have to "go" in the night. For the first couple of weeks you may want to sleep downstairs for that reason. The first day or so you will want to have someone on the "down" side when you go up or down. After that take it slowly and carefully and you should be ok.
I have a recliner, but didn't spend much time in it. Even though it has a handle on the side to aid with reclining it and unreclining, it takes too much abdominal effort to get it down. The first time I tried I hurt myself, so that was my only try for several weeks.
If you can get a hand held shower head it would probably be a good thing. Again, different DR's have different bathing restrictions also, some allow it from the beginning, others not until the 6 week checkup. If you bend over a sink to wash your hair since you don't have a shower I don't think you're going to be able to do that. It places a lot of strain on the abdomen. Shaving wasn't an issue, it was winter and I wore sweatpants mostly, no one but DH was going to have a clue I was a little hairy.
If you haven't already, please check out the PreOp Hints and Articles (click here) and also the Pre Op Checkpoints (click here) which have lists of questions for your DR, discussions about topics such as whether to keep the ovaries and/or cervix, suggestions of things to take to the hospital with you, and lots more!
Best wishes.
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01-02-2005, 04:21 PM
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Information Keeper
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Posts: 22,612
Hysterectomy: May 25th, 1999
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Removed both
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Advice on planning for post-op?
I was able to do the stairs as soon as I came home from the hospital. Dr. told me to limit myself to two or three times a day. I had to climb the stairs to use the bathroom, and using them caused no pain at all. Check with your doctor as all doctors are different.
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01-02-2005, 05:27 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 727
Hysterectomy: October 25th, 2004
Surgery Type: TAH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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Advice on planning for post-op?
Hi Melissa
First, I hope your partner's OK and doesn't need surgery!
I think that pull-out might start looking really good to you once you get home and take a look at the stairs. I doubt I could have handled stairs at all, at first.
Although it's good to plan for needing help, you might be in for a surprise that you can get around just fine as soon as you get home. I didn't need help in the shower, or getting out of bed, walking, etc. In fact you'll be walking probably on your first or second day in the hospital, so you'll already be mobile.
If you have to have a dual recovery - Wow, I would have loved to have a partner in recovery at the same time, and having friends stopping by to do the 'doing'. It would be a two-fer - twice the thanks for them for the same amount of work...don't know if that would actually be possible with your partner's condition, but it would be safe to say 2 hystersisters could do it, assuming no complications.
I see you've been here since July - I sure hope you won't have to postpone your surgery! I'd guess you've pretty much had it with the symptoms by now. You know, there's never going to be a 'good' time to do this - I just hope you'll prioritize yourself enough to get taken care of. (spoken from one hystersister to another...)
I have both a bathtub w/shower and a shower. I had put a handheld shower and a lawn chair in the shower for when I got home, and never used it - just used the tub/shower (not the tub) as usual...
OTOH, I would have loved to have a recliner - using my office chair for that, but a real recliner would be heaven, and a change from being in BED! Choose your 'bed' carefully though - during your recovery it'll develop into one of the closest and most significant relationships you'll ever have in your lifetime! (hope not)
joano
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01-03-2005, 09:17 AM
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Guest
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Posts: 69
Hysterectomy: January 31st, 2005
Ovaries: Undecided
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Advice on planning for post-op?
Thank you all!! I hadn't thought about a recliner, but it sounds like a useful idea - and my partner's been trying to talk me into getting one for a couple of years now. I will also start looking for the handheld shower right away: somehow I hadn't quite gotten it into my head about hairwashing.....
Right now, the biggest nightmare is scheduling. If my partner needs further treatment, that has to happen first, because the radiation oncologists who do the procedure (it's actually radiosurgery, so no cutting is involved, just hundreds of beams of radiation all criss-crossing on the tumor) are at a hospital 2+ hours away, and I want to be there. However, last time it was a 3-day deal because of the computer modeling involved: MRI on day 1, day 2 has nothing because the computers are working out the pattern for the beams, and then day 3 was the procedure, which took about 40 minutes - half of which was a dry run to make sure the machinery is in order. My surgery, otoh, can be done at a very nice hospital 10 minutes from the house, and it really isn't rocket science - at least I hope it isn't! But, of course, my post-op/pre-op appointment (I had a hysteroscopy + D&C 2 weeks ago) comes before my partner's thalium scan on Friday.
I had really hoped to have the hysterectomy before my next period, since the hysteroscopy turned up a pedunculated fibroid that seems to be the source of the excruciating pain I've been having. Apparently my uterus has been trying to expel the stupid thing, but, since it's still firmly attached, all I get is the worst pain I've ever had in my life.
Once we're through our various appointments and know what we're dealing with, it's all going to be so much easier. It's what so many people have said: waiting is the worst part!
Melissa
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