tips for people having abdominal surgery of any kind.

This is... what Day 5?

here are some lessons that I have learned along my brief journey.

no laughing. None. no giggling, chuckling or anything similar. Smiling is permitted.

no coughing. - didn't know you needed so many stomach muscles to cough.

no blowing your nose. - If blowing my nose hurts my stomach as much as it does - I can't imagine sneezing. Anyone and everyone with colds of any kind... stay the h*ll away from me.

putting on socks is difficult. Everything else I can manage. My feet are cold though. I compensate by heating a hot pack and putting my feet on top of it.

Getting in and out of bed I can manage.
Climbing up and down the stairs I can manage.
Feeding, watering and pilling the dogs - I can do that too.

Sleeping, I am having trouble with this one. I'm tired. and I fall asleep - but I'm not even getting as much sleep as I did pre-surgery, and I'm sleeping mostly about 2-3 hours at a stretch. Mostly I'm drinking a lot of water and doing a lot of pacing back and forth ...why you ask?

don't take bowel movements for granted. Even passing gas is extremely painful.