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Can I recover alone?
So I’m scheduled to have my hernia surgery in about 6 weeks, wanted to get past the holidays. I think I’ll be going for an open repair as my surgeon said that’s mostly what he does and at least from the latest studies I can find there seems to not be much difference in recovery between open and laparoscopic, and my family doc feels open is better too…
Anyway, I’m a single guy. I can get a friend to take me to and from the surgery and check in on me the day following. I plan to prep up a bunch of easily microwavable meals before. Set an alarm on my phone to remind me to take pain meds every 4 hours, etc.
How feasible is this? My surgeon says the day after his hernia surgery he got up and cleaned his entire house, though he said that he regretted it almost immediately… Will I be mobile enough to heat up food for myself, let the dog out, etc? I’ve had laproscopic surgery before to remove my gall bladder and from what I remember I was reasonably mobile the day after surgery, it hurt but I could get up and go to the bathroom and everything fine. And it should be easier this time because I live in a single story home. I am contemplating rigging up some ropes or something so I can pull myself up to a sitting position rather than using my abs as I imagine sitting up will be the most painful part of being mobile.
Thanks for any advice!
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2 Replies
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Can I recover alone?
Just make sure to ice the area immediately after surgery very frequently…. keep it going for 2 weeks. I had ice packs, frozen peas & event plastic frozen peas (available at CVS) on hand. Made me feel better & helped keep swelling down.
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Can I recover alone?
In general, most patients can recover alone after open or laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs. So, no worries or stress about that.
Also in general, the recovery of each patient can vary. However, when performed by an expert, laparoscopic repair has the advantage of shorter recovery and lower acute and chronic pain risk. Longterm outcomes in terms of recurrence for one-side hernia repairs are typically about the same.
That said, there are differences among surgeons and their individual outcomes. An expert in open surgery will have better short term and longterm outcomes than an non-expert in laparoscopic repair, and vice versa. Thus, I always recommend that you follow your surgeon’s recommendation as to the type of repair, as that is usually the repair that will provide the best outcome in his/her hands.
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