Sleep post surgery

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Pat J

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 19, 2012
Messages
45
Location
Valley Lee MD
The idea of sleeping in a recliner as many who have posted here have done isn't very appealing to me.

Has anyone used one of the memory foam pillow wedges to enable them to sleep in their own bed? If so, how large of one as they appear to range from 4 to 12 + inches in height.

Finally getting my aortic valve replaced on Feb 12 and trying to get my stuff together.

Pat
 
I couldn't imagine sleeping in a recliner either--I could never sleep in one before surgery. After surgery that was the only way I could sleep for 4 weeks. I was on oxygen when I came home and if I tried to lay in bed I couldn't breath! Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case for you. It sure surprised me!
 
I slept the first night at home in the recliner. Then every night in the bed after that with pillows, we did pick up the 12" foam wedge, it worked good for weeks. Even used pillows against that for a nice incline while sleeping on the back. I think by week 3 or 4 it was back to the normal sleeping arrangement.
 
I had my AVR surgery on Jan 7th, sleeping is an issue for me. Partly I think it has to do with trying to sleep on my back and also I need to be more active during the day. Its slightly better than a week ago but I am not a back sleeper. The foam wedge sounds like a good idea. Good luck
 
I'm a side sleeper so I tried to 'teach' myself how to fall asleep on my back before the op - that worked fairly well. I also found that if I just had a big pillow between my arms that protected my sternum just fine.
 
We have a good recliner in our house but I never once wanted to sleep in it after either of my two OHS in four years.

From first day home, both times, I piled an assortment of pillows in our king bed and was as comfortable there as I was going to be anywhere. The best advice I can offer anyone in advance of surgery is buy a collection of various size pillows. They were my salvation. My DH was darling about adding one here, moving one there and they were my comfort. I found it wasn't all that long when I started to decrease the pile and before long, I found myself sleeping with just my usual one big pillow.

The fact of the matter is many (most ?) of us have difficulty sleeping very long stretches those early days post op. It is common for people to come here asking if anyone else had trouble sleeping. Most of us do and it just goes wth the territory.

The recliner did not appeal to me in the least and I never even sat in it during my healing.
 
Ah the glorious diversity of we human beings :biggrin2: --- We are all different in our post-op sleeping.

For my part, I could not lie down comfortably in a bed. At all. Except for walking, I virtually lived in my recliner for well over a month. My sleep consisted of a few hours napping (usually waking up wondering if I was still alive or not :eek2:) -- took my pills in recliner, watched DVDs, ate in recliner, walked around the house and returned to recliner, and so it went.

But if others can do better with pillows, good for them, I'm not advocating, just saying what worked for me. All best to you in finding your own best way. Sleeping can be a challenge for a while, to be honest.
 
We didn't have a recliner at the time so I created a wedge-shaped pile of pillows and slept on my back. It worked fine for that first month after surgery. Like others, I reduced the number of pillows and transitioned back to side sleeping on just my usual two pillows.
 
LOVE your post Superbob!

I agree, we're all so different, I also "lived" in our recliner for a while during the day - and I have to say that I've been wanting to get rid of that thing for years - that thing is just UGLY :eek2: but glad I didn't get rid of it before my surgery... and now its just grown on me.

I couldn't sleep flat at night so I used a bunch of pillows and slept in the bed .... like others here have said, that pile of pillows did decrease as time went on.

Good idea to have a bunch of pillows of all kinds just in case, you can't really know what will be comfortable to you until after surgery.

Rachel
 
Pat J said:
The idea of sleeping in a recliner as many who have posted here have done isn't very appealing to me.

Has anyone used one of the memory foam pillow wedges to enable them to sleep in their own bed? If so, how large of one as they appear to range from 4 to 12 + inches in height.

Finally getting my aortic valve replaced on Feb 12 and trying to get my stuff together.

Pat
Click to expand...

I am 5 weeks post op and still can only lay in a bed for a 1 or 2 at a time. Maybe for a woman it is different? for me, I am 250lbs and it puts alot of pressure on my rib cage ...so recliner it has been for 5 weeks. Trust me, I don't enjoy it..but its my only option if I want to even get 2 hours sleep.
 
Didn't sleep in a recliner, but spent a few nights semi-propped up on the couch in the family room. I went from that to using a wedge pillow in bed for a few weeks.
Mark
 
Never slept in the recliner. First two nights after discharge were in the hotel bed. Propped up the pillows a bit. Then home in my normal bed, again, just propping a up a few more pillows and sleeping on my back for the first 4 weeks. Moved back to sleeping on side/stomach after 4-6 weeks.
 
Slept my first month in a recliner. I attribute it to all the complications I had in and after surgery. Once the immediate issues were dealt with, I was able to move to a regular bed with no special pillows or anything. Once I was ready, I was ready. That was all. . .
 
The idea of sleeping in a recliner repulsed all of us till we had to try it and found it was easier than struggling in and out of bed, pillows have nothing to do with it. We usually do the recliner for a short period of time, unless one is having breathing problems, then the recliner is a peace of mind for a good nights sleep. You can sleep in a regular bed with regular pillows, it is the getting in and out of the bed is the struggle with a healing sternum in the way. Just see if a different pillow helps and let us know. Hugs for today.
 
Pumpkinhead, it is no different for a woman. When that sternum is still healing, it hurts just as much for a woman as it is for a man. We also have to sleep on the back till the sternum is healed enough for sleeping on the sides. Was always a side sleep and took me 2 months before doing that again. It is in all in the natural healing. Hugs for today.
 
Pat,
I was lucky, I did not have to use a recliner or wedge pillow. For one and a half weeks post-op I slept on my back in a bed with the head of the bed raised and then when I came home after 12 days I was able to sleep on my side with just my one regular pillow. I spent five nights in the hospital and six nights in a rehab facility and then I checked myself out because I was getting so bored! So don't fret over how you'll manage to sleep. As you can see from all the response, there are all kinds of ways.

Good luck with your surgery.
 
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