Discharge Instructions Following Inpatient Surgery
Please call the office immediately if you have any of the following symptoms:
A temperature above 101°
Bleeding, drainage, or separation of your incision
Redness or swelling around your incision
Heavy vaginal bleeding or passage of blood clots.
Swelling of your legs especially if associated with shortness of breath.
Severe pain not controlled by pain medicine.
Inability to pass gas or have a bowel movement.
Activity Following Surgery
After being released from the hospital, you should go home and rest the remainder of the day and usually the next day. Then you should be able to resume light activities that don't cause pain. Most patients are able to resume routine daily care such as bathing, walking around the house, preparing light meals. Your physician and nurse should cover restrictions on activity at discharge. Some surgeries require six weeks with no significant lifting while other surgeries do not. If you have questions about this, please call the office.
Diet
Unless instructed otherwise, you may resume a normal diet. Avoid large meals and spicy or greasy foods. Proteins and vitamins are necessary for healing. Make sure that your meals or nutritious as she recover. High calorie foods and inactivity after surgery may result in weight gain.
Bowel function
Most gynecologic surgery should not cause a major change in your normal bowel function. Occasionally the pain medicines and anesthesia may result in constipation. Drinking more water and eating more fiber should improve your bowel function after surgery. If you're prone to constipation, you should probably taken over-the-counter stool softener. Avoid taking harsh laxatives. If you're unable to have a bowel movement and are having abdominal bloating or swelling, please call us.
Pain
You may be given a pain reliever to take as needed for pain. In most cases two to three regular strength ibuprofen tablets or one or two Tylenol tablets every six hours should assist with pain control for more minor surgeries. Some prescription medications do contain Tylenol. Please do not take additional Tylenol with drugs like Percocet or Darvocet. If you are experiencing severe pain that is not relieved by your pain medicine, please call the office for instructions.
Fever
If you are experiencing a temperature higher than 101°, please call the office. It is not normal to have an elevated temperature following surgery.
Bleeding
Light vaginal bleeding is not uncommon after gynecologic surgery. Your next menstrual cycle may be earlier, heavier, or lighter than usual. If you are experiencing extremely heavy vaginal bleeding or passing large clots, you should call office.
Wound care
If your surgery involved an incision, please keep it clean and dry for the first 24 to 48 hours. The dressing should be left in place for 24 hours. After this, you may remove the dressing and shower but do not scrub the incision. Pat the incision dry or dry the area with a hair dryer on low heat. Is not uncommon to see a small amount of drainage from the incision. However, if the incision bleeds heavily or there is a significant amount of drainage please call the office for the physician on call. if you are discharged home with Staples, please call the office to arrange a time for staple removal. If Steri-Strips are in place at the time of discharge, they should be left in place for approximately 7 to 10 days
Follow-up
You should be given a follow-up appointment within two to six weeks after the surgery. If you were not given an appointment for follow-up, please call the office so that this can be arranged.
Medications
Resume your usual medications unless you have been instructed to do otherwise. I will be given a pain medicine prescription if needed. This prescription should take care of your pain needs. If you run out of pain medicine, please call the office during business hours. Physicians will not be able to call in any medications after hours since your chart is not available.
After Hours Care
Our physicians value their evening and night times with their families as I am sure you do. If you can help us out by waiting until the office is open, we would appreciate it. However, please do not hesitate to call us if necessary. Please click the contact tab for information on how to get in contact with our office or our physicians.
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