Ways to make life easier

[Miss Marple]

If you were scheduled for surgery a few days after Christmas, what would you do before Christmas to make life easier when you come home?

 

Would you go light on the home decorations? Or would you just not worry about clearing it up until several weeks after Christmas?

 

And if you have had a hysterectomy (vaginal) how long before you were able to move around your house a bit? And when were you able to take short road trips?

 

Feel free to PM me if you would rather.

[Pippen]

I had an abdominal hysterectomy the week before Christmas last year. I knew I was in for a longer recovery but my doctor says his biggest problem with women who have vaginal hysterectomies is keeping them down for the week.

 

Here are some things I did to make things easier on us all:

1) I did go light on the decorations. I'm not a huge decorator anyway but I replaced one of our full sized trees with a tabletop one, which made it a lot easier when it came to putting it away. The kids did their usual downstairs tree with their ornaments on it, and they really didn't care about the rest.

2) I bought a big stock of paper plates, bowls, and cups. We started using them a day or so before surgery and continued for a week afterwards. The family was fine with it since it made work easier on them.

3) I stocked up freezer meals, including cooking pasta up in advance, to make meal time prep easier.

4) My kids divided up major tasks so each one had charge of either laundry, making meals, or cleaning up dishes.

5) I purchased the box sets of a tv series I'd been wanting to watch to help make the down time go easier. Everyone said recovery would go better if I stayed down those first few weeks and I wanted the best outcome.

6) I'd heard I probably would be most comfortable in the recliner so I set it up in advance for 24/7. I set up a small table with things I'd need most (kleenex, chapstick, reading material, etc) often in reaching distance.

 

Good luck with the surgery--it seemed like a crazy time to me, but it really worked out better since my kids didn't have activities over the holidays and my husband could take time off work easily then if needed.

[mereminerals]

I had a vaginal hysterectomy 4 days before Christmas. I was able to go shopping two days after surgery, was off all meds by Christmas Eve and able to do light traveling on Christmas Day.

 

We did go lighter on the decorating that year and several friends brought meals over. Even though I was able to do things relatively shortly after surgery, I tired easily and needed to rest.

 

I also want to throw this out there. I had a dear friend share with me before my surgery to ask for a demerol pump instead of a morphine pump. I'm so glad I did as I had fewer issues than my friends who used a morphine pump.

[NanceXToo]

I think you should decorate however you enjoy, and then leave them up as long as needed until you feel ready to take them down!

 

Maybe make and freeze some meals in advance that can just be popped in the oven?

 

Make sure you've stocked up on your food shopping, caught up on your laundry, etc.

 

Make a to do list for everyone else in your house for things you'd like them to keep on top of while you recover.

 

Get yourself a pile of good books from the library and maybe some videos and some other things you enjoy (crossword puzzles? I don't know) that you can have on hand while you're resting and recovering?

 

Good luck!

[Ali in OR]

My youngest was born a few days after Christmas. We still decorated that year, and when she hadn't arrived by Christmas we knew it would be any day. All of the decorations came down the 26th. It was just easier for me to have it all put away and know I wouldn't need to face it later.

 

I would also recommend a good grocery trip to make sure you are well-stocked on everything. Check basic supplies like toilet paper and laundry detergent.

 

Freezer meals would be great. Better yet, if you have friends or church family who can bring meals for a few nights, that might really help out.

 

Hit the library before surgery. Return anything that's out and load up on some books or dvds that you would enjoy.

[Hedgehog]

Not quite the same but... DD2 was born on Christmas Day :001_smile: which was lovely, except that I had serious PPH and lost 1.5l blood (I believe you only have 4l to start with?!). So right after Christmas I was home, in bed, with bad anaemia and a newborn. We had some decorations up (I don't do very much, just the Christmas tree and some lights around the room) and I just left them until someone was ready to take them down for me!

 

I'd say - don't decorate too much, and prepare food in advance if possible. Then you can rest up when you come home from hospital.

[Tammyla]

:grouphug: Stock up and don't worry about taking down the decorations or have someone else put them away.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for all the ideas. I usually decorate a bit on the minimalist side, but the boys love the house to be all fancied up for the holidays. But they don't like to help take it all down. So I'm thinking we might slim down the plans a bit. I have a huge load of books already, but I'm thinking of taking up knitting! I cannot sit still when I see things that need to be done - and with a house loaded with boys, there is always something out of place. I think knitting might keep me down for a while. On the plus side, though, I will have 2 drivers who can run errands for me.

 

And it's wonderful news that I may bounce back so quickly! I'm not easily slowed and can tolerate quite a bit of pain (I'm a kidney stone producer) - I just don't really know what to expect. This organ has served me well ;), never caused me problems, but recently has decided it wants to see the outside world :tongue_smilie: (gravity, multiple large babies, and increasing age :glare:). I really had expected to die with my uterus and my teeth :sad: Oh, well...

 

And I'll certainly check on the pain med suggestion. I haven't really ever taken much more than Ibuprofen.