First off Koop, congrats!
I took Arnica before and for a couple of days after my surgery and had very little bruising too. I've seen pics of some pretty bad bruising too, and really think the arnica helped me.
Arwen mentioned the drains. Holy cow, is she right! I had my drains in for about a week, if I remember right. There is no way in hell I would have been able to do that by myself. The position of them alone would have made them difficult to deal with even if I hadn't just had surgery.
And something that I realized after Arwen left, that caused me much dismay...the microwave in my apartment was over the stove. I couldn't reach up to put anything in it or get anything out of it. Pans were just too heavy, even empty.
I didn't sleep in my bed for about a month after my surgery. Thinker mentioned the pressure of bending over at the waist...it was sort of the same thing for me, but in reverse. Plus I generally sleep on my side and that was totally out of the question for awhile. I covered my recliner in an old bed sheet in case the drains did leak (which they did, a bit) and slept there for awhile.
Good luck Oopster, I'm excited for you!
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