Question about sleep post-operation

[med51]

Hi all

Have had surgery earlier today (shall post about this in detail tomorrow), and everything went fine. Am trying to figure out how to sleep. I know that sleeping on one's back is the way to do it, and am fine wi this. However,  I have also read that one should sleep at a 45 degrees angle. Which have you done? And if the latter, how do you actually manage it? Do you prop up the body with pillows? If so, are they placed under the lower back, or higher up? Sorry about all this, but am rather anxious to do everything I can to make this work, and the practicalities of it confuse me...

Many thanks for any tips!

[ddh]

I wasn't told anything about sleeping at a 45 degree angle. I just tried to sleep on my back, which I think was the hardest part of the whole deal for me.

After about 2 weeks I could kinda sleep on my side without much discomfort. Maybe it was at 3 weeks that I could sleep on my stomach again.

[Gynosaur]

Yea, I was never told the 45 degree angle thing either.  Like ddh I had to sleep on my back at first, which was very difficult but necessary to avoid injury to the operation.  After about a week I was able to sleep on my side (the only position I can get good sleep in) without pain, so it wasn't an issue anymore.

My surgeon has a general rule about activity after gyno surgery: if it hurts, don't do it.  So he told me to resume sleeping on my side when it was no longer painful.

[Gynosaur]

And as far as pillows to prop my body up, yes I did a bit of that because it's too damn uncomfortable to lie flat.

[thetodd]

You must sleep at an elevated angle after surgery its to do with blood clots and swelling i think, 45degress sounds right its so your head is above your heart!

3 pillows prop your back against them = 45 and comforable