Do/Did you sleep in a recliner?

shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Advertise with us
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

marky

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2006
Messages
950
Location
PA
After surgery?
I never did..started sleeping ( or attempting to sleep) in my bed 4 days post op (when I came home).
I am still so sore in my chest (not incision but chest wall) and it wakes me up every time I turn or move in the night.
I am wondering if this has anything to do with not sleeping in a reclining chair?
If you slept in a recliner..how long did you sleep there? do you think it helped with the chest wall discomfort?

It is too late for me since I dont' have one and my dh is certainly not going to buy me one:rolleyes:
I am 4 weeks post op..and still very very sore.. Is that also normal..
TIA
 
I slept in a recliner for 4 weeks after surgery, I had almost no pain sleeping that way. In bed I sleep on my side and when I wake up and roll onto my back I get quite a bit of pain from the bottom of my sternum, and I'm almost 7 weeks out. The recliner was the way to go for me.

Steve
 
I talked my husband into buying us a recliner. When I got home from the hospital, I was very comfortable in bed. But, I felt guilty about the purchase and slept one week in the recliner. Then I went back to the bed, propped up each night. Lying down was not comfortable at all. About 4 weeks out, the pain in my chest/sternum suddenly increased. We analyzed all my habits and decided I was slunking down at night and ending up with my chin in my chest.....and I was sleeping by an open window. So for week 5 and 6 I've been back in the recliner and loving it! It's like "gravity free" so you just don't put any pressure on things. It has really helped. I also force myself to take a nap every few days and always use the recliner. I am very sick of it, I mean really.....it's time to get back to bed and stop sleeping in the study!! But, I am very glad that I have it. Maybe you could borrow one? Or rent one? Or, if someone has one, you could try taking a nap in one and see if you like it at all. Mine is very small and simple (Lazy-boy on sale) so I use a fluffy pillow at the side just to make it more comfy.

Hm. Maybe you should just try more pillows. Put some behind you in the small of your back....and under your breasts, or fluff yourself up real cushy sitting up.

One other thing. yes. it is normal. My nurse at rehab was making suggestions to me, and she said many of us tend to slump over in a protective mode and our posture is not conducive to healing comfortably. So, little by little, try standing up more straight with your shoulders progressively back a little farther. Also, I noticed that because it all hurt when I moved, I was always looking at my sternum when I got dressed, so my head was stupidly pointed down when I was moving my arms in weird ways. I started holding my head up looking straight out and the pain has really subsided.

Hope this helps you some. Hang in there. If you really are REALLY sore and unusually pain filled, you should check in with a doctor or nurse.

:) Marguerite
 
I am the same as Tobagotwo -- I slept in my own bed from the first night home. For a couple of nights I did use a bolster (reading) pillow to angle my body upward. But by the 3rd or 4th night I found I could lay flat and actually sleep on either side.

I think what helped me was the fact that my surgeon double-wired my sternum because I have big bones. I think that made everything quite stable, and less painful, in the chest. For instance, I've never had the bone movement that so many write about. Now, at week 8, it is like I never had an operation in-so-far-as sleeping goes.

I have a recliner that I use for watching tv. A few times I used it to take some 1/2 hour rests.
 
The first night home I could not fall asleep. It sounded as if my heart was going to beat out of my chest. When I lied down on the bed, the stretching across my sternum was too much to take. Thank God for our recliner and IPOD. The only reasons I made it through the first few weeks as I tapered off the meds.

My first "good" night sleep came when I was finally able to sleep on my side, which is my natural sleep position. I can relax laying on my back, but not really sleep.

Glad those days are over...:eek:
 
foam wedges: cheaper than a recliner and can act as

foam wedges: cheaper than a recliner and can act as

marky said:
...
I am 4 weeks post op..and still very very sore.. Is that also normal..
...
Click to expand...

Hi Marky - after my first OHS, i did not have a recliner and found the first week or two pretty rough going. sleeping was difficult flat on my back.

for my next OHS at the end of this month, i bought some foam wedges from a matress supply store that are sold as back supports (about 3 feet on a side, and 10 inches of inclination).

i'm gonna fiddle with my positioning on them and see how it goes. it looks promising.
 
I'm also nearly 4 weeks post-op

I'm also nearly 4 weeks post-op

Marky -

I came home from the hopital 5 days post-op and slept propped up with pillows on our couch for the first week or so at home (for me, the recliner only worked for naps, not all night long). I've moved to our bed (sleeping only on my back), but every few nights I wake up around 2 or 3 am, pretty uncomfortable (strange that this is happening now, since I had very little discomfort for the first couple of weeks). I've also had some trouble falling asleep over the past week; the center of my chest just feels really sore. I'm chalking it up to those little nerves waking up and normal healing.

Since I don't want to go back to the narcotics just to get a good night's sleep, a good friend who's a physician suggested that I get an over-the-counter sleep aid. I'm going to pick some up some Unisom tomorrow and will probably only take half before going to sleep.

Here's to counting sheep and nodding off,

Kristine
 
Hi,
I slept, or tried to sleep, the first 4 nights in the recliner. We bought it the week before my surgery. It became my best inanimate friend. I napped in it during the day. I put in near a window with the afternoon sun and sat there to collect myself. Like a cat in a sunny window. I could not sleep through the night for a good while. I would need to walk around because I got stiff and increased pain if I stayed still. I also needed a pain pill occasionally during the night the first week.
I was finally able to doze in the bed with many pillows at night. I still use an extra pillow to cushion the main incision. I know that turning on the side for someone with a sternotomy is difficult. You have to be very careful for the first 6 weeks because of the way the bones (sternum) are wired. Those bones need to knit together.
Take care and keep getting better.
 
I slept in my own bed fresh home from the hospital.......though I really didn't sleep all that well. I was reasonably comfortable but had trouble sleeping for weeks.
 
Hey there,
I never purchased a recliner but wished I would have. I slept terribly for weeks and weeks. Slept in my son's bed while he was away at school because it was lower on the floor and for some stupid reason I developed a fear of falling out of my bed which is way high up off the floor. :rolleyes: I used about 8 big pillows all around me. You would have thought I was a newborn. The good news is I have been sleeping like a baby for 2 or 3 weeks now. Sweet relief!
My incision never ever was sore, but my chest muscles are still making themselves known! It is awesome though waking up in the morning (or afternoon!!) and popping right up out of bed without the first sign of ever having OHS. :)
I wish you well in your recovery!
Debbi
 
Hi Marky,

Just call me Mr. Recliner -- or Mr. Lazy-Boy! :D I slept (or spent my overnights) in a recliner a full three months after my surgery. Just could not get comfortable in a bed (or even getting in and out of bed for that matter).
So the recliner was my home between walks 24/7. I would sleep maybe 2 or 3 hours at a time, watch movies, drink ice water, use the spirometer, take my pills...

I guess you could prop yourself up in bed with pillows or foam pads and achieve some of the benefit of a recliner. But to me it was a Godsend. Maybe I should become a Laz-E-Boy (spelling?) salesman. :D

Rob
 
V Pillow

V Pillow

As mentioned in my previous post after my surgery I slept on a V pillow... I did put a normal pillow or two (depending on the size of these pillows) behind the V Pillow and slept in my own bed .. I also took it to hospital and used it... I found it great and no need then to sleep in a recliner.... The pain of the chest wound I managed with panadol a couple of times a day... although this of course would have to be cleared by your doctor.... hope this info is helpful Cheers Elise
 
USED recliners can often be found for under $100.

Wedge (foam) pillows are also pretty inexpensive and can be used in a bed or couch.

After my second OHS, I was able to sleep on my side after only a couple of weeks. I suspect that surgeon wired my chest REALLY TIGHT. After my first OHS, I distinctly remember my chest 'clicking' and felt like it was moving a bit when rolling over. That lasted for several weeks.

'AL Capshaw'
 
I tried the recliner but then couldn't get out of it! I ended up on the couch for a few weeks. I don't know how I compared to normal recovery tho because after being home for 4 days, I had to go back into the hospital because of a blood infection in the Shunt they put in my heart to give me Vancomycin. I spent 8 days in there being a pin cushion again. I took the Drugs as often as I needed them for pain. Percoset and Darvocet...Mmmmm good stuff! The couch worked good for me because I could roll over and onto my hands and knees from the sofa and stand up from there. Our bedroom is on the second floor and I made the mistake of taking that flight of stairs way too soon.
 
I don't have a recliner. After 10 days in hospital I went to my daughter's house for a few days and wasn't very well at all. I just lay flat in bed, probably on my side and just one pillow, in the day I lay on a sofa with a cushion. Then back to hospital for another week. Once home I sat in my ordinary chair during the day and flat in bed the rest of the time, with one pillow.
 
I'm guessing sleeping on my tummy isn't going to happen? Im a stomach sleeper and can NOT sleep on my back. We don't have a recliner and probably won't be getting one. Ok, getting nervous here. Only 2 more days.
 
shambles said:
I'm guessing sleeping on my tummy isn't going to happen? Im a stomach sleeper and can NOT sleep on my back. We don't have a recliner and probably won't be getting one. Ok, getting nervous here. Only 2 more days.
Click to expand...


What about going to a service clubs in you're area, and see if they have a hospital bed they would lend to you. I went to our local Odd Fellows, and they had a bed they would lend me, for a small donation. I didnt get it though, decided to sleep in the recliner.
 
Shambles - no, stomach sleeping is NOT in the cards post ohs.

2 days - you have time to try out recliners & order one - have it delivered while you're in the hospital.

Stay calm. This is the worst time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top