Stairs, post surgery

Hi Robin, bless you with your worries! Do you have any other medical or mobility issues ordinarily? If not then stairs shouldn’t be an issue at all, especially not if your op is laparoscopic but also not if it’s open surgery. I used hospital steps with ease and also our stairs at home with ease from day 1. I’m pretty sure you will be surprised with how quickly you recover from the op. I went for a 5 min walk an hour after I came home, and didn’t spend any time in bed daytime after my op. Didn’t need any sanitary towels as I didn’t bleed after nor did I need any pain meds at home. Have you read my hysterectomy diary thread? I can post a link here if not. 

Dear Ms. MarmiteFan59: Thank you for your note. I don't have other mobility issues or medical issues. I am overweight but I walk a lot, travel around the underground and public transport without a car, etc.

I did read a bit of your hysterectomy diary thread. I am taking things in just a little bit at a time. I am so glad to think I can walk up stairs. I won't know until next week the stage and proposed treatment. 

Thank you. I don't have any other words right now. 

Robin

Hi Robin, I had radical hysterectomy with vertical abdominal cut - the physios visited daily to make sure I was mobile ( I was walking the length of the ward from day 2) and they made sure I could manage stairs ok - I went up and down with no problem by day 4 and have had no issues at all. Just take your time and do what you feel ok doing - and rest when you need to - the fatigue does come out of nowhere in the first couple of weeks !

Chrissie xx

Hi again Robin - as well as being a fan of Marmite, my name is Amanda 

I’m overweight too - technically obese, but pre op I was accustomed to walking at least an hour a day with my dog. Post op I did 5 mins day 1, 5 mins twice a day day 2 and 3, then increased the second one to 10 mins, then 15 mins, till by 14 days post op I was walking 20-30 mins twice a day. That goal was what was on the guidelines as possible and safe if done gradually and it’s what I was aiming for as I so wanted to be told I could ditch the Norah Batty compression stockings! (And I was!) 

Robin, I hear you that you’re finding it really hard at the moment, and I want to tell you that it’s okay to find it hard. I hope you don’t get the wrong impression from my apparent positivity - in the early days I barely held myself together. My CNS nurses very quickly got to know who I was because I phoned them frequently for support. I also phoned the Macmillan helpline a couple of times as my mind was all over the place and I just wanted to learn how to anchor my anxious thoughts  and find my way through even though I was beyond anxious and shaky inside. Gradually I learned to make myself focus on the next step rather than trying to look at the whole staircase, and came to understand that what I was anxious about wasn’t what was happening but that I couldn’t control it. And I learned to practise acceptance as the best way to deal with it all. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t have any more wobbles - I did - but underneath it all I knew I could find a way through it. And you will too. And whenever you do have words to ask questions or express how you’re feeling, we will be here for you.