Had surgery, very sore and tired.

I’m so sorry you are having such a tough time. Things will get easier with time. I know that is not much consolation but your determination will help in your recovery. 

Best wishes. 

Love an upbeat post!

Rooting for you, with the three balls.  

Oh  Betsy...that nasty beast has gone...sorry you're in such pain. The breathing thing is to help your lungs and heart...it isn't a race to get the 3 balls up...don't push it if it hurts...remember your internals have taken a battering, they will take time to heal and settle down. 

Another thing to consider is wind. Post op trapped wind is most prob gone, but there may be good food items that could cause wind build up. Trapped wind can be very painful so small shuffle walks, small arm lifts, gentle tummy rubs,  etc and peppermint tea may help.

Keep ur fluid intake up. Not fizzy stuff if u have wind lol.. 

If in doubt ring your team nurse ..

The tiredness is very normal. I still get tired but have learned to listen to my body. So rest, relax, sleep...it is healing time 

I am so proud of you...we'll get up and running soon

As ever always here 

Hugs and love

Hi Betsy, I had my RAPN on Tuesday 1st April and was only just about taking in the surgeon's words when he visited me in Recovery but I think he said that it was in an easy to reach place which is why the actual surgery took only 1 1/2 hours, plus the tubing/detubing time etc before and after of course. So in total around three hours. I had panicked a bit when my latest scan result pre-surgery mentioned something about an aortic vein and I still haven't asked him what that meant but it evidently didn't cause any complications! He implied I would be in hospital one night but then suddenly on Weds they told me they were keeping me in an extra night, but nobody could tell me why, even though all my obs were very good, and I was mobilising and eating by Tues eve. I had had the catheter out at 12.22am on Weds because I kept rolling on the tubing and was lying in wet, and couldn't tolerate the "bubble" feeling it was giving me. I finally managed to sleep once that was out!! I have a high pain threshhold and am doing pretty good...only a few paracetamol needed and I am almost off those now and just taking turmeric and black pepper tablets. I think I have three holes plus the slightly longer one, but there might be a fifth one I haven't yet found. They are a bit itchy now but not unbearably so and I know that's just the healing kicking in. I have had trouble sleeping, partly because the first two nights I was more comfy on my right side and then a pre-existing issue with my right hip (might be a trapped nerve or sciatica - when I can drive again I will need to go and get it looked into) meant that my hip gave way agonisingly for around twenty mins after I got out of bed, so I was yelping in pain and trying to explain to the nurses that it wasn't the surgery, but the pre-existing hip problem!! I now find that the only discomfort is as soon as I lie in bed on my left side (non-operated side) my right shoulder gas kicks in. So this morning during my sleepless hours I googled how to lie hugging a pillow, and that did help a bit. I know the shoulder gas is only temporary, plus I have barely had 2 x two hours sleep per night for the last two nights but again I don't have to go to work for six weeks!! so I can have a lie down any and every time I wish during the day. I also realised that my sleeplessness might be due to the fact I am a very active person (with a physically demanding job) and my activity level since surgery is a mere fraction of what I am used to - so today I am sitting a bit less and walking a bit more in the sunshine, which perhaps will make me tired enough to sleep a bit more. I live alone (though a friend is staying for two weeks so that I don't have to worrying about lifting heavy saucepans etc or my big dog pulling me) so need to be able to do normal things asap but I am also aware that despite the fact I feel pretty good already, I must be strict with myself and not do many of the things I would normally do such as bending too low, stretching high, walking fast etc. I am also not going to push to drive for maybe three weeks or more, so am well stocked up with food for that kind of time scale.

I am so sorry you are struggling with even walking, sitting and lying down. I am already bored out of my mind by not being able to do as much as I normally do. I took two books into hospital and didn't feel like reading either of them! I could do all my normal things, but I know I must not, or I risk compromising my healing process big-time. 

I hadn't heard of that puffer thing until I came on this site today, and several people seem to be using it. I cannot visualise what it is? 

The take-away from everything I have read (and know from my hysterectomy two years ago) is that it WILL get better...even if it doesn't seem right now that there is an end to it. In time, this will become a distant memory - for you, for me, for all of us here - but right now it's such early days and it seems a case of taking a day at a time, and looking at the things you - and I - can do, even if they are only little baby steps forward atm, and simply living through the things we cannot do yet. Don't know about where you are, but down here in Devon we are currently having beautiful weather - sun, blue sky - and that's forecast for at least the next week! This weather always makes me feel so great and so happy to be alive, and perhaps if you cannot sit or walk or lie down comfortably, can you maybe stand outside in the sunshine for ten minutes, say, every hour or two? Hold onto a gate or fence and just absorb the sunshine and breathe in the lovely Spring air, and listen to the birdsong. I am very into holistic and the power of the mind, and I am very aware it doesn't work for everyone because sometimes one's pain is such that nothing at all can override it at certain points, but might still be worth a try? 

Good luck in your healing. We are on a journey and it's different for each one of us, but we all come out of this at some stage and start to move forward on our healing journey. 

Someone else mentioned peppermint tea - this was my lifesaver after my hystero as I had worse wind pain on that occasion. And very gently massaging the more sore of my "wounds" helped immensely too. 

Thank you Fleabane, so much for your advice. I'm moving around a bit more now, and managing to get the three balls up all together. 

My stitches hurt a bit, but because of where the scar is situated, I can't see them, but my partner is keeping a close eye on them. 

I've started my little walking routine, round the block, only one lap for now, but went food shopping and lent on the trolley for support. Came home and crashed out for an hour!

I'm slowly getting better, but feel frustrated that I can't do too much. 

Hugs back to you xx

I am so proud of you. Little and often. I still get very tired. But I pace myself, lie down and sleep on the difference when I need to. 

It isn't a race...and just look at the sunshine...all that vitamin d...

Well done on the 3 balls. Sounds silly but it's great when u can do it.

Hugest hugs  

I remember that puffer machine well, my surgeon said I couldn't go home until all the balls were at the top! It is coming up 12 months since my diagnosis and surgery (radical nephrectomy) didn't think the anniversary would be such a trigger but I'm struggling which is draft as all went well and my last scan was clear. Rooting for you with the balls! Make sure you rest and are kind to yourself, recovery is slow but you'll get there - best wishes. 

1. Fleabane I'm getting better slowly! Managed two walks round the block the other day. Doing well on the puffer thing too. Had to go to our minor injuries unit at the hospital the other day, one of my stitches was causing some discomfort, so had it whipped out, as it hadn't dissolved. I still have to nap in the afternoons, but sit in the sunshine when I can. Positivity and all that. My cancer nurse specialist phoned me the other day, who told me I had a papillary renal cell carcinoma, Grade 2 and confined. Still waiting for an appointment to speak to my surgeon/consultant as I have lots of questions for him. Lots of love and a big hug. 

Oh Betsy you're doing brilliantly. Am glad you enjoying the sunshine.

2 walks as well.. I am just trying to sum up some energy for a walk. I am full of a wretched cold which is dragging me down a little.

Only way is onward sweety..so slow as you go my girl

Always here...hugesr hugs

You are doing fantastic!! Sounds like you are doing a little bit more each day - slow and steady is the best way, and you sound so positive and that's the very best healer of all! Big hugs...keep enjoying the sunshine! (We've lost ours this week down here in Devon, but it will come back, so I'm taking the opportunity to rest a lot more indoors while it's grim outside!)