How to prepare your home properly for post-op recovery? Started by: Hollie

I am wondering exactly how high you can lift your arms, if you can reach into tall fridge ect.

Hi Hollie, I think everyone is slightly different, but I had an uplift and implants and I wasn’t able to open the fridge door, lift the kettle, open the microwave door or brush my hair for 3-4 days. I needed help dressing for about 2-3 days. I’m 10 days post op and have a small dog but couldn’t walk him yet as he pulls. I could reach into the fridge slightly higher at about 4 to 5 days. I can only now start to put a bit of weight on my hands, when getting up from the sofa, you have to try and do it without using hands or arms, same getting into bed you have to shuffle with your bottom.

I felt a bit drowsy but I found the pain to be bearable so I only ever took 1 painkiller every 4-6 hours instead of 2. When I sat down the pain was perfectly ok, but I couldn’t raise my head, I felt like I had to have it on a pillow and I felt this way for about 6 days. I stopped all pain relief at 7 days and I do feel much more with it, I felt a bit fuzzy at times on the painkillers etc. I would say fuzzy rather then sleepy drowsy lol

Definitely take the antibiotics that’s a must really, to make sure you don’t get an infection.

The first 5 days, I ate a lot of soup and toast. I didn’t really have much of an appetite and didn’t fancy much ( which is not like me lol). But I’m eating as normal now.

I think you have to sleep upright for at least 2 weeks, I have a back rest and the v pillows are very comfy. I’m 10 days post op but couldn’t imagine driving yet. I just got back from lunch with my sister and I’m now back in bed shattered. So just be prepared to rest really.

As for any other tips, just to eat lots of protein after to repair the muscle and nurse said vitamin c. Make sure you have lots of wipes, face wipes, roll on deodorant, dry snacks like crackers were good as they were dry and didn’t fancy anything else.

Hope I’ve helped x

hey ladies,

my recovery hasn’t been the worst so i’ll give you a glimpse.. I’m currently pod9….

always take your antibiotics regardless of whether you think you need them or not. if you’ve paid around 5k for them, don’t risk them getting infected! as for pain killers, i was prescribed with co-codamil which made me incredibly bloated and constipated as i suffer with IBS anyway, so i stuck to just paracetamol and ibuprofen.

i couldn’t lift my arms up to a high position properly until yesterday/today so make sure anything you need is at surface height.

i pretty much had everything the same before as i made my other half take a week off work to help me out, and he was a god send. cups of tea on tap, helping me in the middle of the night for a loo break etc.

i haven’t eaten anything differently, and other girls might tell you to take a certain diet to recover properly… how i found it was that i snacked more than i ate for the first 2 days as i wasn’t up to eating meals at first. i made sure i took multi-vitamins. make sure you drink plenty of water.

make sure you don’t overfill a kettle/glass etc as lifting them can be quite difficult, set alarms for your drugs, plait your hair and then you can leave it for days without feeling too grotty, and make sure you prepare for getting out of bed to be painful. I’m a lazy person, and the last thing i wanted to do was work out at the gym (I’m more of a stuff my face with chocolate kind of girl)… I totally regretted this when i realised you have to pretty much lift your body weight from semi-sitting/lying to sitting on the edge of the bed using your stomach muscles alone. if i didn’t suffer with IBS I’m pretty sure id have a six pack going on or something!

my surgeon told me no food 6 hours prior to admission time, and no water 2 hours prior to admission time.

anyway, if theres anything else, please ask. I’m rambling now. gotta go for my post op appointment now!

claire