Going in for surgery can be a big worry or concern all on its own. Once in hospital a lot of those worries are dealt with by the hospital staff. However, when it comes to being discharged, the worry of being at home without professionals at hand can be very daunting and even more daunting if you live on your own.
I have had many surgeries, and I am about to go through major surgery again! I currently have a colostomy and I have had Barbie/Ken butt surgery. Now I am having my large intestine removed, I will be switching to an ileostomy. I am very used to surgery as I have had around twenty surgeries in the last 15 years, but that does not always make the next one any easier especially when it is major surgery.
I know for sure after this surgery I will have worries when it comes to going home. Many of these worries are normal feelings that most of us will have, I know and you will know they are probably common worries, but that never makes it easier for us! It is important however to address the worries as we need to reduce the stress on our bodies and just as importantly our minds. It can be very easy to get wrapped up in the worry which prevents us from dealing with the worries and can delay the healing process.
I would say one of the biggest worries is pain management, major surgery is painful. When we are in a lot of pain it does affect our ability to think clearly. Advice I give to people is expect the recovery pain to get worse when you first get home, the reason for this is the drop in medication. When we are in hospital the pain medication is generally much stronger that what you will be sent home with. Going from IV painkillers to oral tablets can be a big drop in dose. So expect the pain to feel worse but it does not mean something has gone wrong, it just means the strong stuff has worn off! It is certainly worth monitoring the pain levels though, over the first week or two the pain should reduce and if it does not then it is worth seeking advice.
What may also sit alongside the pain are new sensations in the body depending on the surgery. Your body is re-adapting itself, organs and other parts are likely to have been moved around during surgery, these parts then need to find their natural place again. When I had my Barbie/Ken Butt and colostomy surgery, I had many strange movements and sensations. My large intestine had been moved and it felt like it was popping back into place, it literally felt like little pops going off and they made me jump when it happened – it was a very strange sensation! Also, you will go through different sensations where stitches or staples are, this is also perfectly normal as your body is healing itself. You have to constantly remind yourself that you have just had surgery and you are not going to feel the same as before surgery, sensations and feelings around the surgical site are completely normal.
What also helps with these feelings is to keep up with the pain meds given to you. I have made the mistake of stopping pain meds to early thinking I was fine. I was not fine, I was just trying to convince myself I was. When I stopped these, I could feel the sensations even more and that created worry. Keep taking them for a while longer even when you feel you are improving.
This leads to my next point, try not to worry about getting back to work or ‘normal’ life. It is a big worry after surgery for lots of people, including myself, worrying about how long we are going to be off work for. This can really be stressful as some people may not have a good sickness package with their employer. The danger of rushing recovery is causing damage or going back to work when you are not fully healed. If you are not fully healed, you will put your body under stress and being at work may aggravate the surgery, which will result in potentially going back into hospital and that will also mean another period off work. I am not good at this advice myself and I have pushed myself in the past when I really should not have. However, I have now learnt from this and I now concentrate on healing rather than thinking I must be back at work -if you reduce this worry you will heal better. Also, be realistic with your employer about how long you will be off for. If you give a short timeframe for being back at work, you will put pressure on yourself to get back in that time and then you may have worry or have guilt feelings when you have to contact them to say you are not ready to return – so be realistic with them, it will take the worry away!
During the healing/recovery period comes another worry that is common, and another one I do worry about at times, is the fear of doing damage to yourself by completing normal tasks like showering or just moving around the house. Before you leave hospital, if you have not been told ask the hospital team for advice on how much you can do at home in the first few weeks. Ask what they think you should be expected to do and what you should not be doing. The majority is common sense but when we are worrying as I mentioned earlier, we do not always think straight.
What I like to do is making sure items that I need have been moved closer to hand before I go to hospital. If you are going to do a couple of weeks in the bedroom get everything you think you will need in the bedroom before you go into hospital, also remember to leave space for any medical equipment or medication that may come home with. It makes such a difference to not have to worry about getting everything in place when you get home. This is the same for in the bathroom, make sure you have all your bathroom supplies to hand, sometimes it helps to decant certain products into easy opening tubs or bottles and always have extra towels to hand.
If you have a partner or someone is going to be staying with you make sure they come to the hospital before you are discharged so they can listen and understand any care plan the hospital put in place for you. If you live on your own make sure you inform the hospital you live on your own, they can then hopefully put in place a district nurse that can come and assist you with wound dressing and even shower and washing.
There are many things we can worry about, and that is natural, we all worry! What will help is to having someone to talk to. Recovering from surgery can feel a lonely place sometimes and this can have an impact on our mental health; we can worry about how we are going to feel, how are we going to recover, how we are going to move around the house, along with all the points I have already mentioned. Talking to people really helps. If you live with people, talk to them, I am sure they will be supportive. Let people know what you are going through. You may become tearful and emotional at times and I certainly have done in the past, but do not worry about that, it is quite normal. Your body has been through surgery and has had a shock to the system. Allow tears to flow, it is a good way of releasing emotions and feelings, but above all talk to people.
Make sure you do your best to get some sleep. Our bodies like sleep and heal when we are asleep. There will be periods when your sleep is broken due to being uncomfortable or in pain, again try not to worry about that, it is normal and the broken sleep will pass. Worrying about it will stop you sleeping. Remember, I am not a health professional but I am someone that has been through lots of surgeries, so I am talking from real experiences.
Worrying is normal and natural, it will happen. But you can reduce the worry. If you are reading this when you are about to go into hospital, I wish you well with the surgery.
Take care,
Chris
@sydneystoma
