Discharge and recovering at home
Discharge
It is expected that you would have been advised of your likely
discharge date at your pre-operative appointment, the actual
discharge date as you will have read may be a day or so either side
of this date depending upon the operation you had, your general
health as well as how you responded to surgery.
You will know when you are ready for discharge by answering the
3 key questions (mobilising with simple analgesia, eating and
drinking and self caring with washing and toilet) positively. When
this happens the nursing staff will advise you of the likely time
that you will be ready to be collected by your relatives / carer.
In some circumstances it may be appropriate for you to move from
the ward to the discharge lounge to be collected ( especially if
there is likely to be a long delay)
Before you leave the ward, the nursing staff will check a
telephone contact number for you and arrange a suitable time for
them to contact you in the next few days to ensure that your
recovery is continuing at home and that you have no concerns.
The nursing staff will also ensure that you have all the
necessary medication (including blood thinning injections if
appropriate) as well as any equipment needed for stitch or clip
removal( again if appropriate). The nursing staff will already have
made arrangement with community nurses if further care is required
at home.
If you required social / carer support prior to your admission
the nursing staff will have already ensured that this is in place
to restart on your discharge.
Recovering at Home
Once you are home you will find that you will be better able to
sleep in your own bed. We would hope that the preparations you have
made before surgery will mean a quicker and less stressful recovery
until you are back to full fitness.
We would expect the same principles that you experienced on the
ward to apply and we would not expect you to return to bed and
would encourage you to mobilise more and more each day.
However you will feel tired easily and we would suggest that you
arrange with your family and friends a time of the day (usually a
couple of hours in the afternoon where you won't be disturbed and
can have some rest
You will have been discharged the anti- clotting stockings and
we encourage you to wear these for at least a week after your
surgery. The stockings can be cleaned in your washing machine and
we would recommend them to be washed every 3 days unless more
frequent cleaning is required. You will also have been given
instructions with regard to your blood thinning injections as well
as being taught how to administer these.
Within 72 hours of discharge you will be phoned by a member of
the nursing staff from the ward who will check that you are making
the expected progress and have no questions or concerns.
Other Issues
- Lifting we would advise no heavy lifting for 4-6 weeks after
your operation. If you have small children (or care for
Grandchildren) we would suggest you let them climb up on you rather
than lift.
- Travel: You are advised to avoid long haul flights for 8 weeks
after surgery, if you are planning on long car journeys or shorter
flights please check with your GP (or Hospital doctor before
discharge)
- Driving: You should not start driving again until your
strength is up and the speed of movement is up to coping with an
Emergency stop. You must ensure you are not drowsy from prescribed
painkillers andmust alwayscheck with your insurance company before
driving as your insurance policy may be invalid.