After the Procedure

• Recovery: You will be moved to a recovery area until you are fully awake, and then you will return to your hospital room.
  
  
  • Normally you will lie on your side or back.
    
    
  • You may have a catheter in your bladder.
    
    
  • You should expect to have some pain at first. Nurses will provide pain medicine as needed.
    
    
  • You likely will wear compression stockings or compression boots to reduce the chance of blood clots.
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• Hospital room: Once you return to your hospital room, nurses will check your vital signs and help with pain control.
  
  
  • Depending on the surgeon’s preferences and your needs, you may be given pain medicine orally or by IV injection.
    
    
  • The medication will not make you pain free, but it should make the pain tolerable.
    
    
  • Sometimes the surgeon will give you a machine that allows you to provide pain medicine as needed, within certain limits. Patient controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps allow you a little more control over managing your pain.
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• Walking: Normally you will begin to walk within hours of the surgery. To avoid loss of air in a lung or pneumonia, you may be asked to do a variety of breathing exercises.
  
  
• Protection while moving: A few simple techniques will help reduce post-surgical pain and injury. The goal is to protect your back.
  
  
  • Tighten your abdominal muscles to help support your spine. Stand up straight, keeping your ears, shoulders, and hips in a straight line.
    
    
  • Always bend at the hip and not at the waist. Move your body as a unit and do not twist at the hips or shoulders.
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• Sleeping and getting in and out of bed: You may have difficulty sleeping for the first few nights, especially if the recommended positions are different from your normal sleeping positions. Some options include the following:
  
  
  • Sleep on your back with pillows under your neck and your knees.
    
    
  • Lie on your side with your knees slightly bent and a pillow between your knees.
    
    
  • Getting out of bed also can be tricky initially, but with some simple techniques you can minimize possible injury or pain.
    
    
  • Tighten your abdominal muscles and roll on to your side, making sure to move your body as a unit.
    
    
  • Scoot to the edge of the bed and press down with your arms to raise your body. As you raise your body, gently swing your legs to the floor.
    
    
  • Place one foot behind the other, tighten your abdominal muscles, and raise your body with your legs.
    
    
  • To get into bed, back up to the edge of the bed, tighten your abdominal muscles, and lower yourself into bed with your legs.
    
    
  • Once sitting on the bed, use your arms to lower your body onto the bed while you lift your feet into bed.
    
    
  • Roll your body as one unit onto your back.