The day before;
For three nights before your surgery you shower with an antiseptic soap that will kill most bacteria present on your skin. In case you didn’t know everybody has staff on their skin. The morning of your surgery you shower again with the same antiseptic soap.
Arriving at the hospital;
You register which takes a short time and then you are taken to pre-op and prepared for surgery. Your family can be with you at this point. Your anesthesiologist will come and talk to you and answer any questions you have. At that point you give a kiss to your family and off you go to the operating room. You will be sedated at that point.
When you wake up;
After several hours of surgery, depending on how much correction your personal case requires, you will wake up in ICU. At that point, you have a nurse who is wonderfully attentive and you will not have any pain from the anesthesia or surgery. You will be moved to a semiprivate room, until you are well enough to be moved to a private room. Usually this is 24 hours. The nurses and doctors are extremely attentive and make sure that you are not suffering. You will be unable to move your head because you will be in a neck brace. You will be able to control how much pain medication you need on your own with a handheld device.
The private room;
Within 24 to 48 hours, you will be moved into a private room. You can have all the visitors you want, but you probably won’t want anyone to visit other than your immediate family. Quite honestly it’s rather shocking to be so immobilized from your waist up. You cannot move your head side to side, or look up or down. It will be very painful if you do and you will be risking everything that you just went through. To be truthful, I hated being in the hospital, and couldn’t wait to get home even though they suggested I go into rehab. Trust me there’s no place like home unless you have no one at home to help you. I was very lucky because my husband was very attentive. But don’t try it on your own for at least a week. Remember you will be risking everything if you do.
I want to shower;
With the help of a nurse or a loved one you will be able to shower, if you do not get your neck brace wet. Since I decided to return home after five days in the hospital, I was assigned a nurse and an occupational therapist. They came every day at first. Both were wonderful and helped me understand my limitations and how to maneuver around the house myself. It was slow.
Your incision site;
Your dressing must be changed every day either by a nurse or partner.
Eating;
Not as easy as it sounds! Since you cannot look down at your plate, it has to be placed way in front of you. Your will have to have your food cut up, and plan to miss your mouth a few times dropping food onto your lap. Yuk!
The bathroom;
Yes you will be able to do that on your own, hopefully. I did.
Sleeping;
I strongly suggest you use a recliner. An electric one would be the best. If you’re anything like me you don’t like the way they look, so I did not own one. You can rent it through a medical supply house for a month or two. You may also use the wedge purchased in a medical supply store for about $35. I took a sleeping pill which worked wonders.
Grooming;
My incision was posterior. Combing my hair had to be done by someone else. Guys will have a lot easier time with grooming than women. Brushing your teeth will have to be done with a cup. You actually have to spit into the cup to rinse. When you drink anything you will need a straw.
Anything else?
I will answer any questions that you have regarding this in the hope that you never have to go through it. Remember that I am here if you indeed have a family member or friend facing this kind of surgery.
