sleeping in bed

how do you sleep at night, I have bruised ribs before and boy the pain of just getting up from a flat matress is enough to make you cry. You need someone to help you out.. so my question how do you sleep after your surgery when you come home???



michelle

I slept on my back the first week or so, with tons of pillows. I had hubby help me from a laying position to sitting up when I needed it. A recliner is a great help also if you have one.

See you on the other side soon....


Brandi

Hi, Michelle -

I worried about this, too. It was much less of a problem for me than I thought it would be!

In the castle, I had the most discomfort getting out of bed. At home, the reverse was actually true. Occasionally I needed some help rolling over in order to get out of bed the first day or two home - until I got the hang of things! Our bed is high, so DH arranged a step for me. We were prepared to bring in our old recliner for use, but things worked out fine with the bed. (A friend of mine who lives alone and had a hyst a few years back virtually lived in of a recliner positioned midpoint between her kitchen and bathroom for the first couple of weeks, and was very comfortable!)

I am a tummy sleeper, so I was really concerned that I wouldn't be able to get comfortable enough to sleep. The meds must have really helped out with this, because this really hasn't been an issue. I slept on my back for a few days, then was able to sleep on my side. I woke up one morning after having slept on my tummy - and now use pillows to prevent unplanned roll-overs!

You can use pillows to help prop up and support you in whatever position feels best for you so that you aren't *flat*. I found that keeping a variety of different sized pillows around came in quite handy. (I have used extra bed pillows, and also just slipped regular old cotton pillowcases on some of my decorative pillows to put them to use.)

Don't forget to let MEDICATION be your friend for awhile!! Carefully timed doses of something around activities such as showering or walking are a good idea ... and a strategically planned dose at nap and/or night time can really aid your comfort and ability to relax!

Good luck!

without straining everything. And you should really practice ahead of time, especially, if like me, you have no one who is going to be there to help you up.

You roll gently to face whichever side of the bed you're getting out of, swing your legs over the side, and push up using the arm that is nearest the mattress.

Someone also suggested tying a couple of ropes to the end of the bedframe and using them to pull yourself up too.

I'm a side sleeper, and HATE sleeping on my back. Somehow my third night in the hospital, I ended up sleeping on my side. The best way to side-sleep is to buy a body pillow, which you can tuck under your tummy for support and hug close to you. I had one pre-surgery and loved it. Now I can barely sleep if I go somewhere with out it.

Best wishes and s,

Lisa

Hi Michelle, I'm a side sleeper too and what worked for me was to start by using my elbow to push up slowly. Then I would finish by swinging my legs over the side of the bed and push the rest of the way up with my arms. That way there was never any strain on my abdomen. I used lots of pillows too, one behind my back, one between my knees, one under my belly. It worked pretty well ( protected me from my cats too). I lived in my recliner during the day, my dd put it in the center of our living room , by the coffee table(for placing everything I might possibly need) & in front of the tv. It worked great! Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine. s