Thanks for the replies. I have issues now wiping. Its like my arms have gotten shorter over the years but its most likely due to my flexibility and extra weight. I found some devices online that provide an extension to assist in this arena. Hopefully I wont need it but it will be there if needed
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Hi Mike,
I may not be the best person to respond to your question because I was in a medically induced coma for two weeks after my open heart surgery and in intensive care another week after that, during which time the nurses did everything for me. Three weeks post-surgery, however, I was transferred to Kessler Institute for physical rehab, including learning to walk again, and was taught all the usual sternal restrictions, including not lifting more than 5 pounds, not bending forward to tie shoes, etc. In fact, they trained and tested me for compliance. At no time whatsoever, however, did they warn me about wiping my butt, and at no time whatsoever did I have even the slightest problem wiping my butt despite my other physical difficulties at the time.
When I was released from Kessler and came home, three weeks after arrival and six weeks post surgery, I felt great and was fully independent, chaffing at my wife's insistence that she accompany me on my daily neighborhood walks the first week after coming home, I was feeling so well that I started doing some internet research on sternal restrictions because I began to wonder how much they were medically necessary and how much they may have been an insurance industry over reaction to an occasional sternal complication in an effort to reduce insurance costs.
Sure enough, I found that restrictions varied by doctor, region, country (restrictions in the UK are significantly less severe than they are in the US) and over time. I then called a cardiologist friend who has been practicing nearly half a century and he confirmed that sternal restrictions have varied over the years (just like other medical recommendations) and that the restrictions he imposed on his patients tended to be quite a bit more liberal, obviously based on a case by case basis. He suggested that, no, I would not harm myself reaching for a can of peas in the kitchen cabinet, and encouraged me to experiment, using caution and within reason, rather than blindly adhering to some overly conservative regime that didn't fit my feeling of wellness at the time.
I guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't worry about butt wiping as a problem unless it actually does become a provlem for you personally.
All the best,
Ira
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Ira Reid
Hoboken NJ
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