Re: Surgery Question

[Guest guest]

Hi Tonya, I was in the hospital from my day of surgery (Wed) to Friday. I was

offered a

shower on Friday morning. I passed as I was going home that day and would

rather have a

shower at home (I didn't bring any shampoo/conditioner, etc).

Cori

> How long is it before they let you get out of bed and shower or just

> get up? How long do most of you stay in the hospital? My doctor said I

> would stay 3 days. One night in ICU, two on the regular floor. Just

> wondering. Thanks, Tonya

[Guest guest]

Hi Tonya,

My surgery was in the morning (3.5 hours), I was back in my room after

about an hour or so in recovery, and since I had no catheter, as soon

as my plumbing started working again, I was up (with the help of the

nurses). That evening, I was prowling the halls of our wing, checking

things out (you know, where they store the oj, fresh linens, tv room,

etc). I felt great, even told the nurses I felt like I could go back

to work the next day.

Since my husband stayed with me 24 hours a day, I was allowed to get

up whenever I wanted to, with his help. It's not easy getting out of

those hospital beds, nor back in again, especially when you're hooked

up to an IV.

My surgeon generally keeps people in for 2 nights (days) if you have

double jaw surgery, which I did (plus genio), one day for single jaw

surgeries. I went in on a Tuesday morning, was released on a Thursday

morning.

Before I went in for surgery, I asked the nurses what the criteria was

for releasing me early, and they said " as soon as you can take in

enough fluids on your own, you can go home " (of course, it has to be

when the doc is around to sign off, I think). Anyway, based on that

info, as soon as I got back to my room from surgery/recovery, I

started drinking everything in sight.

No shower, even though I had a private room, it had no shower. No

bath, no hair-washing (it wasn't allowed). I was told not to shower

the first week. I had a bath chair at home and sat in that while my

husband washed my hair for me the first week. It felt really good,

especially since they had wrapped my head up for the first day & night.

Hope that helps,

> How long is it before they let you get out of bed and shower or just

> get up? How long do most of you stay in the hospital? My doctor said

I

> would stay 3 days. One night in ICU, two on the regular floor. Just

> wondering. Thanks, Tonya