Happy to be home

[golfnut]

Evelyn,
I'm glad you have an appointment with Dr. Lenke. I would never have gone through with the surgery without having a tremendous amount of confidence in his ability and opinion of the necessity of the surgery for my later years of life. I know my husband was shocked when he saw my pre-surgery x-rays on my preop date so I had his support.
We also saw a couple of people in his waiting room that were bent over at a 90 degree angle. I'm glad I didn't wait until I reached that point. Being in good physical shape sure helped. Recovery is no walk in the park, but I hope each week proves to show improvements. Let me know how your appointment goes. You can email me: pottoff@htc.net

[Jacque's Mom]

Were any encouraged or discouraged from walking steps?

The physical therapist that came to the house a few days after I got home showed me how to go up and down the stairs. I was a bit nervous in the beginning because my body is so different and stands so straight plus I hurt. I only went downstairs if necessary - first because I wasn't sure of myself and second my bedroom and bathroom is on the second floor so I felt comfortable staying upstairs. It gets easier but in the beginning it's tough. So happy to hear you are home and on your way. Lynn

[Susie*Bee]

Stairs...

The PT in the hospital had me working on stairs since our house had them. I found them to be difficult, and used a cane on one side while gripping the banister on the other. I had to go both up and down them ok before being discharged.

[golfnut]

They had me practice two different days on 2-3 steps only and I didn't have any problems. I asked the nurse about goals and she said the PT would talk to me about it, but I just realized yesterday that no one did. It's hard to count laps in a small downstairs. I know several on the forum worked up to a mile or more fairly early. That would be about 200 laps in our house. I was just thinking that going up the stairs and walking laps there and then back down the stairs to walk more laps. I don't want to overdo it. Finding the happy medium with everything is challenging.

[Susie*Bee]

I think I had something like 7-9 steps or so. I think your body will let you know if you are over-doing it. Build up a little each day for awhile and I think you should be fine. That's my advice, anyway. It sounds like you are doing great!

[LisaB]

Karen - when I got home Bernie told me to only do steps once a day for the first few weeks and then gradually increase. It was about 4 weeks before I was allowed to walk on a treadmill. Since I was operated on in the summer I could walk outside in the beginning when I needed more than just doing circles in the house.

[junosand]

stairs

you definitely can and should do stairs; i was specifically shown how to do stairs in one of my PT sessions in the hospital (start out one at a time, if one leg is stronger than the other and hang on to bannister)

[backissues]

So glad to hear you are home and on your way to recovery. It is great to be "on the other side" even if it hurts. At least we know this pain will go away in time.

Wishing you a continued and smooth recovery -

Take care,
Irene

[Nitram]

Here's to a speedy recovery and you'll be back on the golf course in no time!! I'm glad everything went so well.

Nitram

[golfnut]

I had such a good day yesterday with lots of walking and several naps, but I paid for it in the evening. I just couldn't get comfortable. I've always been a tosser and turner, and it's difficult to do it correctly, especially when you're half asleep. Maybe I should try not to sleep so much during the day so that I could sleep more at night or maybe it just doesn't make any difference. I may try a few indoor steps today just to change the path. I'd like to get outside but it's only in the 30's.

Have any of you sufferred from an extremely dry mouth? I can't even chew a cracker. I have ice chips and bought Biotine, but it didn't help. Besides not being able to get comfortable, I think the dry mouth is also keeping me awake. I'm sending hubby to the drug store today. I heard that there is some kind of lozenger for saliva. Water helps but only briefly.
Thanks!
Karen

[Jacque's Mom]

Extreme Dry Mouth

Karen - terrible drymouth in the beginning. I'd wake up in the middle of the night or the morning and felt like I had a mouth full of cotton balls. I'd sip some water, plus I had Halls Defense Vitamin C drops that I would suck on. I didn't take them in the middle of the night, as I was afraid I'd fall back to sleep and choke on it. It has to be the meds as the drymouth is for the most part gone as I'm on minimal meds. As far as walking, when I first got home, I just walked a little every time I had to get up to go to the bathroom. Eventually I increased it. This past week I noticed a huge difference with everything and it will be six weeks on Tuesday. Hang in there, it gets easier and better as the weeks go by. Take care and stay well. LYNN

[jrnyc]

pain meds can/do cause dry mouth...

jess

[ADMoul]

Sounds like you are doing great, Karen. You were probably in such excellent physical condition going in that your body is tolerating everything better than most people's. Didn't have the dry mouth problem but can tell you nights during those first few weeks were rough. I did not sleep much during the day but just was miserable at night. I could not get comfortable, everything would stiffen up and moving around in bed was excruciating. I have a very supportive mattress on my home bed and even with that, ended up in the recliner a lot. I did eventually get some muscle relaxants prescribed which helped somewhat, but I think it's just part of the early healing process. It does get better but it's no fun when you're going through it. As far as steps, I "passed the PT test" for them in the hospital but was limited to just 2-3 trips a day early on. My surgery was in the dead of winter last year, too and I can relate to the boredom of those endless laps around the dining room table! With almost 2 ft. of snow on the ground at that time, outside was not an option!
Glad to hear that things are going so well for you.
Take care and don't rush your body. It knows what to do (except for the bowels!) :-)