NHMike wrote:They didn't have the trapeze attachments on the beds where I was but they didn't need to as the beds were electric and they could do all sorts of tricks. So you could use the electric motor to raise your upper body and then roll to the side and swing your legs out. There were handrails on the upper third of the bed as well and you could grab those to pull.
The approach that I use at home is to roll to the side. Then push my upper body to a sitting position using my near elbow and then hand along with my far hand. It's far from an elegant way to get out of bed. I know a lady with an incisional hernia (original surgery was for a weightlifting accident) and the doctors don't want to operate on her because of other risk factors. She wants them to put in a mesh. So better to heal up the right way the first time.
Maggie Nell wrote:Ooo....now here's a question. When you have a right hemi and you're left-handed, do you have an
easier time with sitting up and so forth without aids?
Anyone left-handed who had a left hemi and noticed that extra degree of difficulty?
NHMike wrote:Maggie Nell wrote:Ooo....now here's a question. When you have a right hemi and you're left-handed, do you have an
easier time with sitting up and so forth without aids?
Anyone left-handed who had a left hemi and noticed that extra degree of difficulty?
It's funny that you mention that as I think that the side that you get up on in the hospital depends on where you are in a semi-private room. I always got out on the left-side of the bed because I was on the left-side of the room. At home, it depends on how your bed is set up or which side of the bed you usually sleep on.
One nice thing about strength-training is that you train symmetrically so that you're strength is even between your left-side and your right-side. That's never really completely true because your dominant side is used more and you may favor one side for walking, running and doing things but overall, strength-training provides gives you generally comparable strength between sides. And I've come to depend on that in this recovery.
What has amazed me is how fast you lose strength if you don't maintain it. I did a Flexbar exercise yesterday (a rubber stick a foot long that you twist with your arms), and it took more effort than I'm used to. Last time I did it was a month ago.
susie0915 wrote:This is so true Mike. I lost so much muscle especially being in the hospital for 3 1/2 weeks with my blockage. I looked at my arms and couldn't believe the loss of muscle. I tried to continue lifting weights during chemo but it did take time to get back to where I was. I think I'm pretty close now but have been out of treatment for a year and a half. Also, my running distance is getting close to where I was pre diagnosis. But I'm getting there and exercise helps me feel in control of fighting this disease and chance of a recurrence.
AlexMichelle wrote:... I tell you that I am going to ask every single person I meet 40 yrs plus if they have had a colonoscopy. I am a colonoscopy advocate now. I feel like because this tumor was Stage 1, I have a job to go out and tell everyone to get a colonoscopy...
In France, screening is free from the age of 50. In order to reduce the number of deaths, scientists now recommend starting screening at age 45.
https://sixactualites.fr/actualites/cancer-colon-depistage-avance-lage-de-45-ans-souhaite-scientifiques/39300/
AlexMichelle wrote:NHMike, Wow, you are doing great. Now, you make me want to increase my steps with a challenge for myself! Did your abs feel sore when you reached 28,000 steps? I trained my abs extremely hard prior to surgery, but I find that I can feel stress in them if I walk longer than an hour at a time. I pace my steps throughout the day. I started lifting only 5 pounds in each hand today. My arms have become so flabby and weak in past 3 weeks. You made me feel such a peace of mind that you are also experiencing the mucous. The doctor did tell me not to be worried about it, but I still wondered if anyone else experienced it. I have the mucous every time I go to the bathroom. Must still be very raw in there.
Today is 3 weeks post op and I feel less pain today than days past. If anyone is reading this that is about to experience open surgery, just know that it takes about three weeks, at least in my case, before the pain is negligible. I took pain pills for two weeks and nothing after that. The first week was quite painful, but the hospital kept the pain under control, and I had expected much worse. The doctor say that it takes six weeks to heal, and I am halfway there and feel pretty good. I will stay on the low residue diet until Christmas. I was put on the diet in October, so it will be about 2 1/2 months that I will have been on a low residue diet.
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