Hello Lynn:
Please accept my deepest sympathies. I know exactly what you are going through. I have had to watch my in-laws make a decision of selling or tearing down their family homestead because my partner and I are the only ones interested in it, and I am not able to handle the stairs, so we had to choose to build onto my mobile home instead of taking over the homestead because of my health. I also have a grandchild who is the love of my life. Jesse had learned by the age of 2 that if he wanted to cuddle with me, he had to sit me down so that he could climb up because I simply could not handle picking him up.
In my experience, lifting, reaching, stretching, sweeping, vacuuming - anything that flexes the abdominal area really - is a no-no because it puts strain on everything the adhesions are attached to and increases the pain levels. My GP continuously admonishes me to recognize that I am ill and can no longer lead a "normal" lifestyle. It is hard to adjust to, but unless I want to live in excruciating pain or on higher doses of pain medication, I have got to learn to hold back.
I'm sorry you have had to face this, but you are not facing it alone.
Gentle pain-free hugs,
Nancy in NB
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