surgery date changed

[warren214]

Hey all! Just an update. My surgery has been rescheduled. Instead of 9/18/14 it has been changed to 9/25/14. I know it is just a week, but when you get yourself syked it kind of blows. My surgeon says it will only take about 2 to 2/12 he's for both aka. He said the max time in the hospital would be about 5 days. Does that sound close? Also, can anyone reccomend a good transfer bench for the shower, there are so many. 

[Ann]

Hi Warren, just read your update and sorry to hear your surgery has been rescheduled, like you say "it kind of blows" when you have got your head around a certain day.
To me five days seems pretty quick for both, but am guessing you are in the US and know things are done differently dependent on where you go and know that usually there's not much medical intervention after the actual op and the bandages etc are off, so from the hospital perspective this maybe what they usually do.
I imagine though you are going to need a bit of support either at home or at a rehab unit, whilst you recover from the op and build up your strength again, so hopefully you have things in place to help with that.

Maybe if you can think of the week as a bit of a bonus to make sure you've got everything organised to make everything as easy as possible for you after the surgery, even if its just downloading some more music, books or whatever ..... like this shower bench you are looking for.
Good luck though for the 25th.

[cherylm]

Yeah, an unexpected delay, once you've focused on a specific date, can indeed "kind of blow." Ann's probably given you the best advice possible on how to stay on track during that delay...and at least it is a short delay.


I have a feeling that your doctor is talking about five days in an acute care (medical) hospital. An inpatient rehab facility seems like a definite possibility considering the severity of the procedure you're going through. "Home" is also a (less-likely) possibility if they think that you have sufficient facilities and people to help with support, but in that case you would also be likely to have visiting nurses and either in-home or out-patient physical therapy visits. (All of this is based on your being in the U.S......)

I do have a shower transfer bench, and it works well for me if/when I need to use it, but it's pretty "basic." There is no padding on the seat, no "gliding" or "sliding" parts to help you move into the tub or shower. It simply overhangs the side of the tub. I can take my leg off and then use my arms to move down the bench until I'm in the tub, under the shower head. There's a handle-type arm on the far end of the bench, which helps with the transfer procedure.

The downside to most of the transfer benches that overhang the side of the tub is that you must have a shower curtain/liner set-up, and you need to sit on the liner in order to keep from flooding the bathroom. If you can find something that will let you slide in over the side of the tub and then have all the components of the bench located inside the tub, that would be very helpful on the "waterproofing" front! Also, I would tend not to have any cushioning on the seat...it's real easy to stick to a vinyl cushion and getting unstuck can be both tricky and uncomfortable. (My own solution to all of this, at least most of the time, is that I have a simple water activity leg, which I wear when showering...but that might not be a good option in your situation.)

Good luck in making it through your waiting period!