Sleeping on my side?

[Dennis S]

I had my aorta valve & aorta stem replaced on August 4th. I am being very careful to follow medical advice and want to recover as soon as possible. I had a hard time sleeping at first, and have mostly slept in a recliner since surgery.

I slept in our bed last night, but kind of laid there flat on my back, worried about turning on my side. My question is whether I should worry about turning on my side. If it hurt I wouldn't do it, but if I could do it comfortably, is this something I should be able to do without compromising the recovery of my sternum? So far I have not had any setbacks in my recovery, and this thing has been hard enough as is-so I don't have any problem b eing cautious. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Big-Chuck]

sleeping

sleeping

well sleeping on my side has become easier but I wouldnt push it if I was you. Your body will tell you what it is comfortable with and what it isnt. I am almost 12 weeks out and still cannot sleep on my stomach which makes me mad. Chest wont let me.

 

[Ross]

That was one of my concerns also and the Doctors and nurses all told me to sleep whatever way I was comfortable. It took me a long time to get into position on my side, but I did it. Only problem is, it hurt and if I moved, I was waking up, but do whatever you can to sleep the way you which too.

 

[inlaguna]

I often slept on my side. Many times a held a pillow on my chest and this felt the most comfortable. The doctors did not say I should not so I rolled with it. I even woke a few times on my stomach after a few weeks. 9/10 months post op and it seems like I did no damage.


Dan

 

[Georgia]

Have someone bring you a body pillow and try sleeping semi-on-your-side - you'll be able to rest at maybe a 45 degree angle instead of flat on your back and your sternum will probably allow it at this point. Eventually - and likely not too long - you'll be OK on your side.

 

[KLB123]

I asked one of the nurses how long I would need to sleep on my back sitting up she replied 6 weeks. Later I asked my surgeon and he said to sleep in any position that was comfortable.

 

[hensylee]

I did the pillow prop thing and was able to turn on my side to sleep. It was getting up from that position (or any position, for that matter) that was hard. Whatever position you decide to sleep in, you are going to be careful because your body won't let you do anything fast or hard enough to hurt yourself. You will whoa up pretty quick if it is painful. Try whatever way you CAN sleep.

 

[Yaps]

A huge pillow and a smaller one (I use the heart pillow hospital gave me) to cushion, and you will adjust. I didnt sleep in a recliner..lol, cause I dont have one.. , so pillows....

 

[geebee]

My understanding has always been you can sleep in any position that doesn't hurt.

 

[skyellab]

I AM 2 MONTHS OUT NOW AND WAS TOLD WHAT EVER DID NOT HURT ME I could do. I STARTED OUT IN A NICE LAWN CHAIR THAT RECLINED. I then went to proped up on the couch to after 5 weeks laying flat in bed on my back. Sort of stretched the whole thing. Last week I went to watch tv and went to lay down on my stomach without thinking about it. It was fine. If you used a pillow in the beginning to caugh and sneeze, why would it be any different to lay that way after 6 weeks?

 

[901]

When I got home, I would sit on the bed and hold on to the heart pillow and sort of fall over sideways to get my head to the pillow. Then, worked my legs into a comfortable position. I found that on my side was more comfortable than on my back. When I would lay on my back, I'd hear "popping" noises that sounded like my sternum was shifting. The surgeon said the pops were nornal as long as there wasn't pain. Didn't have pain but preferred sleeping on my side (still do). Nine weeks out yesterday!

 

[hensylee]

Doug, your falling down to the pillow made me chuckle. I bet if we all described some of the ways we got up and down, we'd have LOTS of chuckles.

 

[geebee]

Doug, your falling down to the pillow made me chuckle. I bet if we all described some of the ways we got up and down, we'd have LOTS of chuckles.

I discovered that I could "pull" myself up from a lying position if I had some type of "rope" to use. My SO attached a long piece of heavy cloth to the bottom of the bed and I would grab that and work my way to a vertical position.

My mother came over to visit, looked at the cloth tied to the bed, and said "I don't want to know". I think she thought it was something kinky left over from my pre-surgery days.

 

[tobagotwo]

It may be mildly uncomfortable (or more, as in Chuck's case) the first few times. Go by your comfort level. Usually, if it feels odd to you, it will feel less odd on the right side at first.

But it won't break anything.

Best wishes,

 

[Cris N]

Have someone bring you a body pillow and try sleeping semi-on-your-side - you'll be able to rest at maybe a 45 degree angle instead of flat on your back and your sternum will probably allow it at this point. Eventually - and likely not too long - you'll be OK on your side.%5

This is similar to what I did... I used a thin blanket rolled up & folded the roll in half... or you could use a couple of towels rolled the long way. For me the semi-on-my-side felt really good.

Cris

 

[Rixtory]

I am 7 weeks post surgery today. (Mechanical St. Jude Aortic Valve and synthetic Aortic Root) and started sleeping on my side aweek 3. ditto on the pillow - Wrap your arms around it. I found it easier to sleep on my right side for the first week and slowly go over to the left.
As of last week, I can sleep on my stomach now.

I still wake up sore sometimes and I still get some muscle pain in my chest, but I am walking around 3 miles per day and doing everything else. I try not to lift a lot yet, try to stay under 20 lbs if I need to push pull or lift something..

BTW, I just found this site today. it is awesome!!!

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I had my aorta valve & aorta stem replaced on August 4th. I am being very careful to follow medical advice and want to recover as soon as possible. I had a hard time sleeping at first, and have mostly slept in a recliner since surgery.

Sounds pretty typical to me (AL Capshaw)
I slept in our bed last night, but kind of laid there flat on my back, worried about turning on my side. My question is whether I should worry about turning on my side. If it hurt I wouldn't do it, but if I could do it comfortably, is this something I should be able to do without compromising the recovery of my sternum? So far I have not had any setbacks in my recovery, and this thing has been hard enough as is-so I don't have any problem b eing cautious. Thanks for any advice.

After my bypass surgery, I heard (and felt) some 'clicking' when I tried to roll over on my side for the first 2 or 3 weeks. After that, NO problem.

After my AVR, I could sleep on my side after only 1 week. I suspect that surgeon 'wired me tighter'.

'Al Capshaw'

 

[Lisa]

I slept on my side the first night home from the hospital (about 7 or 8 days post-op). I slept in my bed and cradled the heart pillow to my chest when needed to move (s-l-o-w-l-y). I never tried to sleep in the recliner or sitting up. I would sleep for a couple of hours at a time and then get out of bed until ready to try again. It gets easier. Best of luck with your recovery.

 

[Makro]

I'm six weeks out of my surgery and I started sleeping on my side a week after getting back home. First, I put a very soft pillow behind my back and was sleeping somewhat on my side this way, it was still much better than sleeping flat on my back. Soon after that, I started sleeping on the side, I can even get on my belly, but only for about 15 minutes. I say, if it doesn't hurt, it's ok.

 

[perkicar]

I was able to sleep on my side while I was in the hospital as long as the bed was elevated (the head of the bed) a little bit and I had a pillow to hug. It took me a long time to be able to get flat on my back without feeling like I couldn't breathe. Now I can sleep on my stomach, on my back, although it seems like I've kind of gotten to like sleeping on my side.
Carolyn