[harrie]

MaryJo and Blanche,
when I look back I might make a few suggestions. One of the challenges was getting out of bed a day or two after the surgery. If you could have some fairly decent upper body strength to begin with, I think that would be extremely helpful. Also, for the first wk I was bent in half. Having a strong back to support yourself is also good to have.
Then after the surgery, to me everything felt very tight. Range of motion for my arms was very limited. The good thing is every single day I could see improvement.
AFTER you get your drs OK....what I felt helped immensly was yoga. That really helped me stretch out my muscles and skin. I am not the expert on yoga since I have only been taking it for a yr, but I do know it helped. Maybe you can find other ways of stretching out really good.
It was all very challenging, but worth it in the end.
Maryanne