When you First Came Home.....

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
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.
J

Jkm7

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
4,384
Location
Massachusetts
Some of the posts I've read here got me wondering.
Did you dress each day right from the start when you came home post op?
Did you make yourself get out of bed by a reasonable time each morning or did you spend lots of time under the covers?
Did you join the family/your spouse at the dinner table each day or have your meals brought to you?

It never occured to me from any surgery (OHS and other) to not get dressed each day in street clothes. I found it imperative I be up and out of bed, into the shower and dressed even though I had a care giver here with me when DH had to return to his office.

I wonder if it helps us get strength back faster? If it isn't good for our mental state? Makes us feel 'less ill'?

You agree?
 
I got up and dressed every morning once I got home. Becuase the sternum was still really sore it wasn't all that comfortable to be "lying under the covers" anyway.
I was up and dressed by 8am each morning and would have breakfast with my kids before they went to school.

I ate dinner with my family at the table. My partner cooked the dinner for a few weeks but it was summer so it was easy stuff like salads, cold meat etc...

Bridgette

I think it does help with the recovery process to get "up and about" as soon as possible if you are able to. I know not everyone can though, so I'm not judging.
 
I did the same, I tried my best to keep a "normal" routine as much as possible to feel as good about what I was doing as I could. It was a little difficult taking showers for the first week, I could hardly pull the handle to get any water because it was too tough. But each day you feel better and better and have just a little more mobility.

Also, I only slept about 3 hours each night for about a week after surgery. I was not tired during the day at all, after talking with my surgeon he suggested that you have to "earn" your sleep and do things during that day that may or may not make you tired so when the time comes for bed, your body has a reason to take some time off. I would also recommend dressing in street clothes rather than PJ's just because you feel more awake and like yourself;)

Luke
 
I basically lived in my recliner night and day. Slept in it at night. Watched TV and DVDs by day. Got up only to go to bathroom or take walks around the house (it was very icy outdoors). I shamelessly let my DW and daughter wait on me hand and foot -- bring me ice water, meals, meds, whatever. I was a slug who enjoyed the pampering. As far as changing clothes, I have no recollection when I did that -- must have at some time during the day or they couldn't have put up with me. :p
 
I just did what I felt like each day. If I felt like getting up and dressed, I did. If I felt like staying in my jammies and resting all day - I did that. However, by the third OHS, I felt I was entitled to pamper myself. I was a bit more regimented after my first.
 
why would anyone choose to remain under the covers and in bed all day? we were not disabled, just slowed down a bit.

Try to maintain as normal a schedule as you can given the circumstances. As has been stated in many prior threads, sleep might be hard to come by. So you stay up until you discover the end of the internet, catch a few hours then it's day light. I watched "SunRise Earth" each morning on Discovery HD and it was time for breakfast.

Then it was time for a walk. Then come back and watch a movie on video, eat lunch (my wife would take me out for lunch so I could see the outside world--it will do wonders for your mental outlook), come back and walk some more.

Perhaps another movie, eat dinner then the above. Before you know it you're activity levels will be picking up and your life will be returning to normal.
 
I'm on the other extreme.....I was NOT capable of dressing everyday for a few weeks.
But then I bought some nice loose jogging pants which I loved.
I did get up on time and then had a lie down before lunch and before dinner.
Yes, ate meals at the table with husband.
Yes, had a home nurse twice weekly, then once weekly for several weeks.
 
I got up and dressed (so to speak) every day. I say "so to speak" because I usually had on jogging pants and an old T-shirt. The first week, my husband made the meals, but I always came to the table to eat them. I also woke up very early the first week home. Two weeks post-op, my husband took me out to a little family restaurant which is not anything special, but to me, just to get out (other than for my short walks) was wonderful!!!
 
Oh I got out of bed everyday and put on sweats - got into street clothes only when I had to. There was no pampering for me. I cooked the meals and we ate together. Although I didn't cook the first day home, I was too tried due to the lack of sleep the night before in the hospital.
 
I just knew this group would answer like this. We were all eager to get back to ourselves as quickly as we could.

Please believe me..... I would NEVER judge anyone and what they had to do during their recovery. Everyone does the best they can and just getting through this is a job and a half. No judging here!!!
 
I had a visiting nurse so I needed to be dressed. Besides, I had to take a walk twice a day, and I figured the neighbors would talk if I strolled the street in a nightgown.

No bed for me! I couldn't get in one for almost two weeks!
 
I think there is also a big difference in recovery as compared to the condition of the patient beforesurgery.
Before my OHS I was almost completely debilitated...I was determined to stall as long as I could. (DUMB-don't try it).
All it got me was a slower recovery.
 
I think the clothing vs. mental state equation is different for everyone. You especially have to consider whether your "normal" clothes make it easy or hard to dress, move, stretch, do your breathing exercises, take a quick nap and change bandages that catch "tube ooze."

Also, whether or not you can dress yourself may depend on the type of clothing you own and the time of year it is. If it's midwinter, all of your sweaters are pullovers and you don't have the extra cash to buy some hoodies, you will need help getting dressed and undressed.

Personally I have been wearing the same kind of things 24/7: stretchy camis on top and stretchy yoga pants or cotton shorts on the bottom. I can easily dress and undress myself in these.

Here in Arizona the only way to walk outdoors is to get up at 5am, so I've been getting up at a particular time for that. (Sometimes I'm up then, anyway.) I nap twice a day (now that I sleep well enough to nap!) and go to bed later than I used to.

We're an "eat in front of the TV" family, so no change there!
 
I woke up fairly early each day and got up (from my recliner) and showered (needing less help each day) and put on clean (comfy) clothes every day (but I've never been comfortable with laying around the house in my pajamas all day long nor lying in bed all day long; I suppose people vary in their preference with that though). I sat and napped in the recliner as necessary throughout the day and took the walks I was supposed to and tried to do other productive things as I was able to, like writing out thank you notes. It was kind of a chore to keep track of all of the pills I had to take early on and I was on restricted fluid consumption for the first few weeks so I had to keep track of that also. My husband cooked excellent and balanced meals and we ate at the table. It was pleasant to be fussed over for awhile and then I just began doing more and more again as I felt up to it. I did have a bit of trouble concentrating on things like magazines or books or movies or bills for awhile.
 
I got dressed everyone morning, but mostly in sweat pants and a t-shirt. I didn't get dressed to go out unless I was actually going out. I tried to go to bed at my usual time, too. Essentially, I tried to get back into my daily routine asap.
 
good question!

good question!

Hi there, interesting things to think about...I did get up and dressed and even showered every day when I got home, as I was told I needed to wash the incision every day. It felt good to get in the shower finally after spending a week in the hospital with wires- no showers-
I also got dressed everyday, but maybe because I had live in help to help me with the kids (not for me, of course-;))
Since I had a driver, we went places nearly every day to keep us all entertained. It was the same for me after both surgeries- once I was home- I was no longer a patient. I didnt stay in bed because it was more comfortable to be up and about. Just me though
 
I have always been one of those who could stay in bed 24/7 (and do when I get the cold); I also worked a little from home the day after I was released from hospital; I only dressed when I had to - more or less, prefering to PJ it for a while. I napped whenever I could, and was pretty good to me - as was DH. On the other hand, I opened my first retail store 3 weeks after surgery and do not drive. My pillow and I were on public transit about3 days/week from about 2 weeks after surgery, and at 3 weeks after surgery, I worked at the store 2 or 3 days in a row. You can see why I needed the naps and the PJ-days and the pampering !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top