zzroged
Nip & Tuck - Things I found useful for recovery
Jun 29, 2011
So I'm still healing from my surgeries, and find myself with lots of thinking time on my hands. So here goes a post on things I've found useful to have to support my recovery. Not all of these are essential, or necessary - but are things that I found useful.NOTE : I had a breast lift & tummy tuck with muscle repair followed by an inner thigh lift & arm lift 7 weeks later - so all items were used at some stage of my recovery - I needed more support/gadgets etc with the thigh and arm lift.
Small computer table with wheels - holds laptop, coffee etc within my reach and I can easily move it from room to room without having to lift anything
Small tray and/or box - to hold all my essentials together - pills, remote control, eye shades, lipsalve, iPhone, pen & pad - easy to move around rather than individual items
Pillows - lots of different sizes to support various limbs and body positions required after surgery - I didn't have a recliner so this worked well
Dictation Software - I found an app on apple called Dragon dictation (free) - which allows you to dictate emails, messages etc and converts words into text - very useful for the first couple of weeks to keep in touch particularly if you've had an arm lift and are restricted in movement - sure it's not perfect - but it reduced the amount of time I need to spend typing. I used it a lot to help post my blogs and keep in touch with my family in the UK
Small box - to hold all of your dressings, gauze, tape, creams, gloves in one place
Panty Liners - useful to help stop wounds oozing through to your clothes and/or compression garments - buy the unscented ones !
Breast Feeding Pads - yup you read right ! - I used these for additional cushioning of my wounds when I needed extra padding - eg under arms after breast lift, around crotch of compression garment after thigh surgery to reduce pressure on the sensitive areas etc
Eyeshades - useful in hospital and at home when you gotta catch a few zzz's during the day
Pill Box - helps to keep on track of your daily medication and vitamins. I used this in conjunction a pill reminder software programme which reminded me when to take the pills (Pill Reminders - a free app on the apple store)
Panadol Night - (paracetamol and diphenhydramine) - basically a painkiller with a light sedative which causes drowsiness. Helped me sleep. NOTE : I checked with my surgeon that this was ok to take and he was fine with this as I was discharged with panadol (paracetamol) painkillers only
A Shewee ( www.shewee.com) or equivalent - which helps when using the bathroom - saves on getting dressings/compression garment wet and saves you having to sit down on the loo - which was extremely painful after my inner thigh lift.
Moist toilet tissue - again - useful in the bathroom to help with cleanliness. I also had medicated handwashes/antiseptic wash and gauze etc set up in the bathroom to maximise on hygiene - particularly for the thigh lift
A picker upper thingy - to pick up everything that you drop on the floor and just can't reach down to get - I didn't get one of these - instead poor hubby had to follow a trail of everything I had dropped in the day (lots) when he got home from work every night !
A small step - useful to reach things in the kitchen when you can't reach, useful to rest feet up on whilst using the loo after thigh surgery so you can get comfortable (some people invest in a raised toilet seat)
Plastic Stool - used in the shower as a seat for first few showers after surgery, used as something to lean on when sitting on the loo after surgery, used as a small portable table - lots of different uses
CLOTHES TO WEAR AFTER SURGERY :
I didn't buy anything specially for surgery, but here are the things I found useful to wear (Note : I wasn't discharged with any drains so didn't have to deal with drain issues)
Loose yoga pants and loose T-Shirts - hide a multitude of dressings/compression garments
Long flowly maxi dresses or sundresses - as above
Cotton Body or cami top - useful to wear under compression garment (if your surgeon allows) - makes it more comfortable
Wrap around cardigans/shrugs or a wrap - covers up compression garments or post-surgery bra when wearing sundress
UV arm sleeves - can be worn with your regular T-Shirts to hide compression garments - particuarly useful when wearing arm compression garments - which are just plain ugly !
Leggings - worn with sundress - hides surgical stockings and/or compression leggings
Loose PJ's - worn most of the time when at home - COMFORT, COMFORT, COMFORT !
OTHER HINTS AND TIPS
Stock up the fridge/freezer/pantry with items you will want to eat after surgery
Be prepared to increase your protein intake if you can - eg shakes/Isopure Clear etc
You won't be able to reach everything in your cupboards - so either re-arrange them or leave things on the counter top so they are close to hand
You'll probably be bored, so get some books/magazines/DVD's in
Recognise that your standards of tidiness/cleanliness in the house - are probably not the same as your boyfriend/husbands/friend/family etc - so be prepared to overlook this for a while whilst you are recovering - take a deep breath and relax!
I think it's common to feel a sense of 'buyers remorse' at some stage in your healing process - use OH forums to seek support/help etc
YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE AT RECOVERY - SO FOLLOW YOUR SURGEON's INSTRUCTIONS AND BE COMPLIANT !
That's enough from me, off to catch some more zzzz's
