Post Op?

I had a had a radical open on my left side.. I was up and walking next day after surgery and home in 5... I have a 10" cut on my left side that healed pretty well (no staples).. Once home I was more concerned with my sons 80lb pit bull trying to lay and snuggle with me than with stairs. I had no issues with stairs tho.. I did not take any pain meds 3 days post surgery.. YMMV though.. do what you CAN but do NOT over do it..

/joe

OK. So i am a bit of a self confessed over planner.  I was worried about the stairs because I have 3 flights to the bedroom so moved a bed downstairs pre surgery.  By the time I got home from the hospital (3 full days) I could do stairs (4 days) but since all the living was downstairs it was kind of nicer resting with everyone.  I was able to cook (not clean up), sweep (very gently) and did these things as exercise to keep the body moving and the lungs exercising.  Getting big breaths if you have had CO2 gas to expand the abdoment is important to prevent pnuemonia.   

Plan before going in to take stool softeners, take your own best constipation fibre / laxative with you, one that agress with you if you know what it is.   They will have you up and walking as soon as you are able to prevent blood clots, you may have a drain, a catheter, for a short period, and a drip with pain meds.   Try and find out how they are going to approach pain management so you know if you have to ask and when.  I was saying I didn't need pain meds and they were well just a little more morphine, just a little more of this and that... ha!       

Warm compresses for the shoulder tip nerve pain from the phrenic nerve damage from the CO2 gas is the best I found.   Drugs don't seem to do anything for that,  though it starts to dissapate and keeps reducing as time goes on so it isn't too worrying, mine lasted 24 hours awful and then uncomfortable for a few days.  Kind of like a cramp in the neck and shoulder area. 

Showering - nurse showered me within 12 hours, I could have done it myself but it would have been a little harder.  She also did a nice masage.  Nice nursey. 

I did as many slow walks as I could in the hospital up and down the corridor to keep moving. 

Getting up from lying down was uncomfortable, but you can learn to roll over, use a rope or tied/folded sheet tucked into the end of the bed for help.   Use a small pillow for coughing or sneezeing, going in the car to brace against the wound.  And position your bed so you can roll to the side that isn't cut.  (Thank you APny and Jan4you). 

Ice or cool packs for swelling and don't overdo it. everyone is right, you will know when you did too much.   2.5 months post op I have been really active in my normal life, travelled overseas and decided to do pilates this week and some hard gardening and rooftop drain clearing up a ladder, well I can tell that all those wounds I though were magically healed are not completely healed, there is some weakness there.  So will keep going but moderately.  (I wasn't a pilates practiser before the operation). 

Soft loose comofortable clothes, and sensible non slip shoes.   

Have a plan for if things are not going well when you are home, who will you go see, what hours are they open/operate, if you have a problem it is hugely less if you can get adequate help without too much drama and waiting.   I made sure I knew which days my general practiioner worked, so I didn't end up deciding I needed to see her urgently when she had just quit for the day and wouldn't be back for a week. 

I had a great surgeon who visited daily (sat and sun) and who gave me his mobile number.  I didn't need it, but know when you should be talking to them, to your GP (primary care?) or the ER or urgent care. 

Try to get a clear picture of wound care, what is and isnt' normal. 

Best of luck.