Chronic Pain WikiPreparing For Surgery
>This page is a place to share suggestions and tips on preparing yourself and your home for surgery. It includes practical suggestions that are important, but not always talked about by your doctors. As with all of these pages, please add your own suggestions and feel free to edit the existing ones.
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[edit] Preparing Physically and Emotionally for Surgery
- Quit smoking! It interferes with healing and bone growth. Plus it's just bad for you ;-)
- Stop taking NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, ect) at least 2 weeks prior to surgery. They can interfere with your healing and cause bleeding.
- Stop taking Vitamin E, it does the same thing.
- Ask your doctor for any other medications you may need to stop.
- Eat a healthy diet, it will help with healing.
- Talk to your doctor about exercise. Walking and gentle stretches may help you feel better and help you recover faster, but get your doctor's ok first.
- Wash your hair, shave your legs, etc. the day before or the day of surgery. It's going to be awhile before you can do those.
- Get your hair cut, nails done, pay the bills, fill prescriptions, get toiletries, do laundry, clean house, etc. Right before surgery so you don’t have to deal with that for awhile.
- Make sure you have comfortable clothing, you won’t want anything tight that will rub your incision.
- Make sure to follow your doctor's orders regarding pre-op care.
- Good communication is the key. Talk to your surgeon, your spouse/significant other, family, friends, etc. Make sure you understand the procedure from your doctor and make sure the others know what you will need in the way of help and support. Don't forget to ask questions and give information you know.
- And finally, relax! Stress makes things worse so do whatever you can to stay relaxed and calm. Pamper yourself a bit with something special, just for you.
[edit] Preparing Your Home
- Stock your pantry, fridge and freezer with easy to make meals. Make double batches of your favorite meals and freeze half for later. Arrange the kitchen so the things you will need are easy to reach without bending or stretching. In fact, arrange the whole house that way as it will be easier on you in the long run.
- Things to have on hand - TV, DVD and/or VHS player, lots of movies, books, magazines, videogames, audio books, cd’s, knitting, crocheting or whatever you enjoy. You will get really bored if you don’t! At first you won’t have the energy to do much, you will sleep a lot!
- Having tissues, lotion, lip balm, flashlight, or other such needs on your nightstand
- Make a phone list of people you can talk to, and have a phone close.
- You might find a body pillow helps as you try to sleep. For cervical it helps support your arm when you lay on your side. For lumbar pillows under your knees when laying on your back or one between your knees when on your side.
- Access to your computer would be a great help when you start feeling better, you can connect with friends easier. A laptop would be ideal but if you can get your desktop computer in the bedroom so you can lay down and type, that would work too.
- A handheld shower head is a definite plus. You won’t be bending so this can really help with hygiene. Plus most of them have different settings so you can find one that works best for you.
- Consider adaptive devices such as a raised toilet seat, ‘grabber’ (looks like a big pincher, about 3 feet long handle), cane, walker, shower bench, etc.
- Enlist trusted help for the first few days at home if you can. You are going to need help with walking and bathing initially, and other bathroom needs. Yes, it can be embarrassing but it’s safer and easier for you.
- Buy a nice covered cup that you can stick a straw in, it makes it easier for drinking those first few days.