what would you recommend post op?

[robby]

I remember reading a thread on the old forum last year about what people would recommend or do differently post op. I searched for it again and found one but it wasn't the same one. I thought I would re ask it here. I found it fun and informative and thought maybe others might too.
For my second surgery I am getting a recliner. We don't have any chairs with a high back for support for my head. Last year after my first surgery I was propping pillows up like crazy.

[JoAnne in Arizona]

Hi Robby!
I am having surgery 11 days after Robby. I will be in Baltimore 9 additional days after surgery. Any tips anyone could offer would be great!

Thank you,
JoAnne

[Joel]

Get a good exercise routine going but don't push yourself to hard, watch for symptoms of CSF leaks and surgery site infections for two or three weeks after surgery, and prepare yourself mentally for potential post-surgical deficits. Take some good books with you. Use the subway in Baltimore--it connects to Hopkins. See the sights there while you are waiting. Keep a bandage on your scar for the first week at least (to guard against infection). Tell us how you are doing.

[badtazz]

I highly reccomend a recliner, sometimes the best sleep I get is in my ecliner. I found mine used on craigslist. It was actually a sofa with recliners on each end and a seperate recliner. My wife likes this as much as I do. and it was only $100.00. I also recomend taking your meds as perscribed. IAfter my first surgery, I thought I was ok and went back to work and wasn't ready. My meds made me feel like I was. But hey, I was only 40, I thought that I was going to be the same as before. Now I am not doing as well. Anyhow, you will be fine.I will be thinking good thoughts for you.

Jeff

[garyw]

Hey Joel ,
you mentioned watching for symptoms of CSF leaks and surgery site infections post op.
Can you be more specific as to what we should be looking for?
My husband Gary will be going for surgery fairly soon we hope.
Probably caregivers will be able to keep an eye out for these problems easier than the person with the bandage on his back.
Judine

[peilynne]

Hi Gary,
I had a csf leak three weeks after my surgery, the way we found it was it started to hurt excruciatingly when i would move in bed, my ns came and looked at my back, it was all spongy, he put a big syringe in and it filled immediately, i had emerg surgery the next morning to repair leak, my ns said most people would be really sick to their stomach and have excruciating headaches as i was draining off 800 cc a day of csf and it took two weeks after surgery to get the csf to 100 cc, a safe zone. It was very scary and the nurses who bathed me every day did not notice the fluid pooling in my back, so please be very aware to check for that, this set my recovery back alot, take care, lynne

[garyw]

Thanks Lynn - I didn't realize that if the incision was healed, it could leak under the skin. I'll keep an eye out for that, just in case.
Hope everything has gone much better for you since then.
Judine

[Joel]

In my case, at about day 8 or 9 post-surgery, I noticed a leak in my wound. Jallo thought it was no biggy. But it kept leaking. I ended up flying home and about 2 days later it was confirmed that I had a staph infection. I probably picked it up in the OR; but also I did not have it covered after my surgery, so I suppose I could have picked it up from laying back on a dirty recliner in the apartment across from Hopkins. That is why I recommend keeping your wound covered for a while.

[qhcrazy]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, things post op. to make life more bearable, let me think what I didn't do the last time....OH, I know, I didn't have a good pair of slippers, so get some that have the grippers on the bottom and can keep your feet warm!!!! My feet were never warm and it was hard to take that. Also, maybe some shower shoes too, so you don't slip. OH, I know what else made life so much easier. Hopefully you won't need a walker, but if you do for a little while, I found that the strap on bag helps to carry everything for you. I put a portable phone in one pocket, my exercise bands in another, some nutri-bars, and whatever else you can think of. Also, wouldn't hurt to put a picture of your daugher in kindergarten in there too.... ;D

[Charity R.]

I would recommend keeping a notebook next to wherever you are sleeping to keep track of your meds. My mom and I did this after we got home from the hospital and boooooy did it help. Sometimes you can't remember which med you last took and how long ago it was.

Also, I had a really hard time staying warm for about 10 days after surgery. The doctor turned the hospital room temp up to 80 and gave me lots of blankets but I still froze. I would recommend the slippers too. My feet were the coldest.

I didn't have Home Health, just me and my mom and showers were difficult because we lacked a bath chair. However we made due with a camping chair that didn't have arms. It cost my mom like $4. So if you aren't having someone come in to help shower you at home, find something that you can sit on to shower.

Other than that, just take the exercise thing slow and easy. Don't overdue it at first, it can really slow down your healing if you push yourself too hard.

Charity M.