Appendectomy recovery

[crazyforlatin]

For an elderly person, my mom, what are some ways to help her recover faster from an appendectomy and to make her feel more comfortable during the recovery process?

 

Is heated blanket okay or better to avoid since the wound should not have heat?

 

What about electric mattress pad?

 

ETA: her appendix did have micro perforation and part of me thinks it's because we had to wait 4 hours from the time we entered the emergency room to the time they took her into surgery.

Edited April 6, 2017 by crazyforlatin

[kitten18]

Giving you a bump.

 

I hope she feels better soon.

[Scarlett]

I was only 43 or so but had no trouble with recovery. I didn't even have pain meds because I am allergic.....it was fine. Just rest and no lifting for a week or two.

[Jean in Newcastle]

What is her circulation like?  Does she have any neuropathy?  Sometimes the elderly can't feel if it gets too hot.  I would want to be careful with that. 

[gaillardia]

I don't know your/her situation...in my situation, having abdominal (not appendix) surgery and not having to do anything for at least 3 weeks was a necessity for me. I think I was told no lifting for 6 weeks. Have pre-cooked meals for her that she can warm up easily, if she's alone. Make sure she isn't having to do her laundry, or bending down and doing kitchen chores. Naps were helpful. Drinking a lot of water to keep things moving. Lots of fruit and fresh veggies for snacks.

I had to learn how to get in and out of bed differently for a few days. 

[HSmomof2]

My dad had his out at age 71. He recovered surprisingly well. His most pain was in the first few days. He had to take it easy for about 6 weeks, but overall he did very well.

[Catwoman]

I don't know your/her situation...in my situation, having abdominal (not appendix) surgery and not having to do anything for at least 3 weeks was a necessity for me. I think I was told no lifting for 6 weeks. Have pre-cooked meals for her that she can warm up easily, if she's alone. Make sure she isn't having to do her laundry, or bending down and doing kitchen chores. Naps were helpful. Drinking a lot of water to keep things moving. Lots of fruit and fresh veggies for snacks.

I had to learn how to get in and out of bed differently for a few days.

:iagree:

 

I think these are all excellent suggestions. Be super-careful she doesn't lift more than she should. They usually say not to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk, but I think even that is way too heavy for the first few weeks at least.

 

As Gaillardia already mentioned, your mom will have to get in and out of bed differently for a little while, so if she is still in the hospital, make sure they have a physical therapist come to her room and teach her the little tricks of how to roll onto her side and ease out of bed. It sounds like such a simple thing to do, but abdominal surgery is rough and getting in and out of bed can be so difficult and painful at first.

 

I hope she recovers quickly!

[Dynamite5]

What helps a great deal with getting out of bed (other than physically doing it properly) is having silky pajamas that slide over, and in no way stick, to the sheets. Worthwhile investment!

[trulycrabby]

I wouldn't use any kind of heated blanket or pad unless the surgeon states it is okay.

 

Wishing her a quick recovery! :grouphug:

[crazyforlatin]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!

[Beth S]

Was it laproscopic?  (Meaning only three 1/2" incisions?) 

The recovery for our TWO kids was remarkably quick with the tiny incisions.

It gets bad if there's an internal infection from the perforated app'y, but you usually can see them gradually improve over the next few days.

Our 1st kid fully ruptured.  We caught the 2nd one beforehand, & he was discharged less than 24 hrs after surgery.

 

But with the "appy lappy" the recovery time is much faster than traditional abdominal surgery.

Yes, no heavy lifting, but she shouldn't have to be doing much of than anyway if she's elderly.

It's really a routine surgery, with a usually routine, fast recovery period.

 

We had to keep the incisions dry.  If they said no heat on the incisions, than I would follow their instructions.

I do know that there was some MINOR concern about developing breathing difficulties, so we were given breathing exercises for our son to do.

Really . . . MOST appendectomies are delayed.  The diagnosis (both at home & then at the hospital) just takes time.

 

Praying you see some speedy recovery in the next few days!

[Clemsondana]

I had laproscopic surgery, and the recovery was fairly quick. Mostly it felt like I'd done 1000 sit-ups - more sore than pain, if that makes sense. For me, sleeping on a wedge pillow helped make it easier to get in and out of bed. Because my stomach muscles were sore, I found it a little hard to feel confident any time I stood on one foot - I sat on the side of the tub to shave my legs, and had to hold on to something to step in and out of the shower (we had a tub-shower combo where you had to step over the side). I only took 1 pain pill after I got home, and that was to make sure that I could sleep that first night.

 

My biggest issue was that I was so bloated from all of the air that they pump in to do the surgery. I was living in a place at high altitude at the time, and folks who have surgeries out there seem to have this problem more often - maybe a difference in air pressure? People in my current location don't seem to have that problem. Anyway, loose clothing might be necessary - I looked 5 months pregnant and needed sweatpants or a baggy dress for around 2 weeks.

[Raifta]

With mine, it had ruptured and I was in the hospital for 5 days.  Recovery took quite a while (4-6 weeks to feel up to going out and a month more to feel back to normal) and I was on heavy duty antibiotics.

 

Lots of good suggestions above, but I would also mention taking probiotics if she's on antibiotics.  I also found that my sense of taste changed dramatically and I could barely handle eating anything for the first month - everything tasted too sweet.  It was a bit of a challenge to find food I could eat.

 

I also found that I needed a lot of pillows to get comfortable in bed.  About 4 or 5.  Worse than being pregnant.  I also rotated between bed and couch because I could lie on them in different positions and then my hips/other parts of my body didn't hurt as much as when I was just lying in bed.

 

And I could not wear any pants that were elasticized or tight around the waist - I had my mother go out and buy me some of those fold over waist pants like this  and I just didn't fold over the waist.

[Tap]

Hopefully it all went well and she is speeding through recovery!

 

Mine burst either right before surgery or during the surgery. My appendix was really high up, longer than usual and tucked behind the muscle.  I wasn't eligible for the laparoscopic procedure and the surgeon said he had to dig it out of the muscle.    My recovery felt like it!    I was in the hospital for 5 days, and on 4th day I started running a fever and my lungs started to shut down.  They had shuffled me around between rooms 3 times while I was hospitalized, and through the confusion no one had given me the breathing exercises to do.  I was in a complete fog most of the time due to the pain meds so I didn't know any better. I had to stay an extra day to get my lungs to open up and then my fever under control.

 

 

The Roceph antibiotic in the hospital gave me a horrible migraine while I was there.

The Flagyl made everything taste like metal and gave me a lingering headache but not as bad as the Roceph.

 

I really, really didn't want to eat when I recovered.I wasn't hungry and everything tasted like metal.  I had to force my self to eat a quarter of a plain turkey on white sandwich a few times a day. I only wanted very, very plain food.  I would drink a bit of a nutritional drink, but that was it. I could only drink the clear ones, the creamy ones like Ensure sounded disgusting to me. The doctor said it was likely because they had to mess with so much of my insides to get the appendix out, that my gut wasn't wanting to process food yet.  I lost a lot of weight, but finally gained my appetite back a few weeks later and regained my weight. I had to consciously force my self to eat.

 

The pain was high during recovery.  I slept on the couch so I could just turn and sit up.  I tried to take the least amount of pain meds possible, but still needed something when I went to sleep for a few weeks.

 

So, from my experience.  The biggest issue for recovery was the breathing and the food.  Just making sure there is something she will eat and that she knows to do the breathing exercises !!

[crazyforlatin]

Hopefully it all went well and she is speeding through recovery!

 

Mine burst either right before surgery or during the surgery. My appendix was really high up, longer than usual and tucked behind the muscle. I wasn't eligible for the laparoscopic procedure and the surgeon said he had to dig it out of the muscle. My recovery felt like it! I was in the hospital for 5 days, and on 4th day I started running a fever and my lungs started to shut down. They had shuffled me around between rooms 3 times while I was hospitalized, and through the confusion no one had given me the breathing exercises to do. I was in a complete fog most of the time due to the pain meds so I didn't know any better. I had to stay an extra day to get my lungs to open up and then my fever under control.

 

 

The Roceph antibiotic in the hospital gave me a horrible migraine while I was there.

The Flagyl made everything taste like metal and gave me a lingering headache but not as bad as the Roceph.

 

I really, really didn't want to eat when I recovered.I wasn't hungry and everything tasted like metal. I had to force my self to eat a quarter of a plain turkey on white sandwich a few times a day. I only wanted very, very plain food. I would drink a bit of a nutritional drink, but that was it. I could only drink the clear ones, the creamy ones like Ensure sounded disgusting to me. The doctor said it was likely because they had to mess with so much of my insides to get the appendix out, that my gut wasn't wanting to process food yet. I lost a lot of weight, but finally gained my appetite back a few weeks later and regained my weight. I had to consciously force my self to eat.

 

The pain was high during recovery. I slept on the couch so I could just turn and sit up. I tried to take the least amount of pain meds possible, but still needed something when I went to sleep for a few weeks.

 

So, from my experience. The biggest issue for recovery was the breathing and the food. Just making sure there is something she will eat and that she knows to do the breathing exercises !!

Thanks so much, and I'm so sorry you had to go through it. Can you explain the breathing exercises? No one has said anything about this. Some of the nurses haven't been very kind. My mom is leaving tomorrow, so it'll be a week.

[Tap]

It is mainly taking deep breaths and holding them for a few seconds to fully inflate the lungs.  Coughing to exercise them and clear mucous..  And using a incentive spironmetry device (air chambers with balls that you use you breath to move) to exercise them a bit. 

 

Ask the nurses, they will know.

 

How is she doing?

Edited April 9, 2017 by Tap

[TechWife]

Try to get an elderly patient out of the hospital as quickly as you can. If she had an open appy and is staying in the hospital more than one night, make sure she gets up as much as she can to walk the halls. Read to her, books, newspaper etc.onvite her friends and your friends to come in for a visit. Makes sure she eats well within dietary restrictions, bring food from home if necessary. Follow PT recommendations re:exercise after discharge. Report any cognitive changes the the RN or primary care MD immediately.

[crazyforlatin]

Try to get an elderly patient out of the hospital as quickly as you can. If she had an open appy and is staying in the hospital more than one night, make sure she gets up as much as she can to walk the halls. Read to her, books, newspaper etc.onvite her friends and your friends to come in for a visit. Makes sure she eats well within dietary restrictions, bring food from home if necessary. Follow PT recommendations re:exercise after discharge. Report any cognitive changes the the RN or primary care MD immediately.

Why is it important to remove an elderly patient out of the hospital as soon as possible? I thought it would be a good idea to stay a bit longer. It was a week, but my mom insisted on leaving. It wasn't open surgery. 

 

Just wanted to thank everyone again. Yogurt and veggies are about the only foods she can eat. Everything else tastes awful. 

 

Thanks, Tap, about the breathing exercises.

 

I'm finally at a computer now, but I did read the posts here several times. There's still pain and of course she's wondering if the appendix was actually removed. Oh mom, we're not living in a horror movie. After DCIS surgery so many months ago, I still have some pain, so I think this is normal. 

 

And the nasal-gastro tube was awful; it goes up the nose and down the throat. I really don't want appendicitis. 

[TechWife]

Why is it important to remove an elderly patient out of the hospital as soon as possible? I thought it would be a good idea to stay a bit longer. It was a week, but my mom insisted on leaving. It wasn't open surgery. 

 

 

This is a very emotional topic for me - I lost both of my parents within seven weeks of each other late last year. Because of that, I'm not very eloquent on the topic. I'm much better with objective matters like Medicare/Medicaid, evaluating care facilities and other administrative tasks. I'll link some articles that have a lot of information. 

 

There are so many reasons - I wish I had known all of this when my parents were younger. My father entered the hospital for treatment for his arthritis - he was in severe pain. He was fully oriented to his surroundings when admitted, but developed delirium which did not resolve during his hospital stay.  It  progressed to dementia  Yep - treatment for arthritis! He was given inappropriate medications for someone his age and the treating physician did not think they were related to his symptoms. Many things that help younger patients actually harm older patients. Many aspects of hospitalization that are merely unpleasant to younger patients (sleep problems, for example) can be detrimental to elderly patients. 

 

Recent research has shown that the longer elderly people are hospitalized, the more their health deteriorates. 

1/3 or patients over 70 and more than 1/2 of patients over 85 years of age leave the hospital more disabled than when they arrived (even when the initial illness is successfully treated)

 

Elderly Patients Arrive Sick, Often Leave Disabled  - article from Kaiser Health News - problems include: inadequate nutrition, ambulation and pain management; treatment restricts mobility; unnecessary procedures; harmful medications (for age and condition);  sleep deprivation 

 

Hospital Delirium : What to Know and DO  

 

If ACE Units are so Great, Why Aren't They Everywhere?  - they aren't sexy enough - this article discusses communication issues, safety issues and gives a good overview of how the hospitalization of the elderly can be approached  ACE = Acute Care for the Elderly

 

HELP - Hospital Elder Life Program for Prevention of Delirium 

Edited April 12, 2017 by TechWife

[crazyforlatin]

Thank you TechWife, especially for sharing your story and giving us all those links. I'm very sorry you had to go through such a heartbreaking time. It's so difficult seeing a parent in a hospital. I'm going to reread everything you linked here. Thanks so much.