Stairs after surgery

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Gee! That was a lot of stair climbing for you all. I also have bad knees and mild asthma, so stair climbing has been an ordeal for me for years. Anyway, I was advised not to climb stairs more than once a day for a few weeks. I am really impressed that the rest of you are doing all that stair climbing! My real challange is trying to bring my laundry up stairs from my basement. I still find I move the basket up a few stairs and then walk up to the basket and then move the basket up a few stairs again.

Maryka
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BAV and aortic root replacement 12/23/09, Johns Hopkins, Dr. Duke Cameron
 
Bridgette said:
Golly, do you live in a mansion or something - you have big flights of stairs in your home? LOL..


We don't have any stairs in our house (little bungalow all one level) but even so, I had to show that I could walk up and down a flight of stairs before I could leave hospital.
Judging by the responses on here this seems to be standard practice.
Laura, good luck. I think you will be fine.

Bridgette:)
Click to expand...


:) No...... No 'Mc Mansions' here. :D
Just a two story house with tall flights of stairs and a full basement where I have our laundry machines. From day one home both surgeries, I walked the stairs at least 6-8 flights a day.
 
I did a flight of stairs at the hospital with a monitor on the second day after surgery. I went home the third day and the first thing I did was go up the stairs to use the bathroom. Had no problems with it at all, and used stairs as if I'd not had any surgery. It wasn't the norm for the hospital I was at.

Unfortunately, everyone's different, so my experience won't necessarily be yours.

Best wishes,
 
Maryka said:
My real challange is trying to bring my laundry up stairs from my basement. I still find I move the basket up a few stairs and then walk up to the basket and then move the basket up a few stairs again.......
BAV and aortic root replacement 12/23/09
Click to expand...

i'm guessing you've already had your avr, not scheduled for '09?
that's only two months. what are you doing carrying laundry up and
down stairs!
 
I had my surgery on a wednesday and was home by saturday afternoon. I had to walk up about 12 steps to get to my second floor bedroom when I first got home. I took one step at a time, and stopped for a rest twice. I was pretty wiped out at that point. After that, I didn't go down stairs for a week or so. Then, once or twice a week I made a trip downstairs and back, but I did do plenty of walking (pacing?) within my second floor confines during that time.
 
Laundry question

Laundry question

First, I had my surgery 12/23/2008. (I was hoping to sleep through Christmas--my father being son of Scruge back in my childhood--but was wide awake by Christmas Eve, and enjoyed sharing the holiday with a lot of dedicated nurses.)

I am carrying laundry up because my surgeon, Dr. Duke Cameron,told me at the 6-week-checkup that I could "lift 20 pounds". I was shocked because my chest still ached terribly at night, but immediately thought about bringing the laundry up two flights of stairs. But, between my bad knees, asthmatic reactions to exertion, and, twinges in my chest, I went back to the routine of basket up two steps, walk up to it, then move the basket up. (I had perfected that technique when my BAV was so bad before surgery.) It works for me.

How do/did the rest of you deal with laundry and stairs?

Maryka
 
I had no trouble walking stairs from day one home. I went up and down a number of times every day.

My laundry had to go down two flights from my upstairs bedroom floor to the basement where I have our laundry machines.

I tossed it article by article down one flight. :eek: Came down and gathered it.

Then, tossed it article by article down the lower flight.

I washed, dried and folded it. I was extremely careful to transfer the wet articles from washer to dryer one item at a time in order to not lift anything heavy. One t shirt, one sock etc After it was folded neatly in basket, I waited until DH came home and he carried it back upstairs. I was tempted to 'cheat' a few times and carry it but each time I thought back to how my chest hurt for four years after my first surgery (though I carefully followed surgeons orders so it wasn't anything I did - just how I healed). I was not going to do anything stupid after my second surgery to jeopardize the best possible healing. My reward for that is huge. I almost never have any pain.....just some weather related discomfort from time to time.

If necessary (no one to carry laundry for you), wash often so you have very little and carry it up in your arms rather than basket just a few items at a time. Don't do big loads. If you are alone and wash every other day, how much laundry could you possibly have? If there is someone else in the house, let them carry it.


I see the precious baby avatar...... if she is your baby and not grandbaby, I take back about 'how much laundry can there be'. :)
 
I just carried very light loads and doing 3 sets of stairs. Basement to 3rd level 8 steps, from 3rd level to main another 8 and from main to the upstairs 6 steps. Slow and steady gets the job done. ;)
 
I too, have stairs up to the bedroom. We asked the surgeon before surgery about the stairs and his comment to us was "We are not operating on your legs". I went up the stairs twice a day from the day I came home (one to go to bed and one to come down in the morning). We do not have a bathroom upstairs so my parents brought a portable potty chair for me since I go to the bathroom alot in the night (thought I might get over that after surgery, but alas, still got that problem!) because they did not want me going up and down the stairs by myself at night. I used it for about a week, then went back to the normal routine of getting up in the middle of the night and going downstairs. Just take it slow and easy and remember that you cannot "pull" yourself up the stairs with your arms. According to my surgeon, the couch is for napping only, not sleeping all night out of fear about the stairs. LOL Guess he was right! Good luck with your surgery!!!
 
Stairs, laundry, babies

Stairs, laundry, babies

I counted my stairs today--an even dozen on each flight. I am gradually getting better, however.

I also toss my laundry down the stairs. I usually bag several items in a big green garbage bag and toss it down. To be honest, sometimes I bag the clean clothes in the same bag when I am bringing them back up. Frankly, I would rather do my moving my less-than-20-pounds of laundry up three stairs at a time than take several trips up and down.

The baby is my new granddaughter, Nora. Luckily I do not have to do her laundry!

Maryka
 
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