My question is several parts.

I am hoping to schedule my surgery for Sept/Oct. I have 4 kids who will be in school full time then. K-7th grade. My husband travels a lot for work. He can be gone for M-F to a month or more at a time. How long do you think an average recovery time is that I would need someone home with me? All day to only when the kids are home. I know complications would change all that but I am wondering about typical times.

Second part goes along with the same, how long before you felt like being out of the house? Both my boys play football and we will be right in the middle of the season. If I had surgery on a Monday, would I be able to attend a game on Friday night or Sat?

Suzy

Everyone is different. I had complications so I was literally in the hospital for almost a week. Normally the hospital stay is only 1-2 nights. So I'm a bit out of the norm.

However, I will say that if you do get help try and get help for the evenings (baths, meal prep, etc.). My Dr. didn't clear me to drive until I was 3 weeks almost 4 (and that's with me not on any pain meds past the 7th day post-op). So try to get someone to do the driving for your kids for at least the first 2 weeks.

If you don't do pain well and could possibly need your pain meds for longer than 2 weeks, plan to have someone drive as long as you're taking those. You're not supposed to drive on those and it is not worth the risk to everyone's safety.

As for other help, if you could get someone to prepare meals for your kids (unless you can cook and freeze) that would be helpful for maybe the first week you're back home. The good thing is that your kids are a bit older. So the older ones can hopefully help with the younger ones.

Daytime help probably won't be needed much once you get back home. With the kids in school, you can sleep during the day as needed.

I can't speak for somebody with complications but I had a text book surgery. Surgery was on Wednesday afternoon. I stayed in the hospital until Friday evening. I was up for a car ride on Sunday. I spent the whole next week with help to care for my 15 month old son. By the following Monday I was pretty much back to normal, driving, taking care of my son by myself. I went back to work exactly 2 weeks after surgery.

I would say I am not textbook but there is a ray of hope that you could not need any help. WIth your kids being at least 5 years old and older, you may be fine after your hospital stay. I had surgery on Monday morning, left the hospital Tuesday afternoon, and was able to take care of my 1 year old little girl that same evening (she had just turned 1 and was just starting to walk). It was a little "uncomfortable" at times but not impossible. But again, I would venture to guess I am not what you would consider textbook as far as recovery.

So, like mentioned before, it is very specific to the person as to how your surgery goes, your pain tolerance, how you are with meds, and with what your family expects you to be able to do that soon after surgery.

Im still pre-op, but one thing my surgeon stressed that I have a way to get to the hospital the moment I have issues. I am to call him, and if they think I need to be seen, then he said he wants me to drop everything and get there. He said for the first 30 days, this was very important. I know he is just being cautious, but I feel it is important.