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Become a member and receive career-enhancing benefits

Our top priority is providing value to members. Your Member Services team is here to ensure you maximize your ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp member benefits, participate in College activities, and engage with your ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp colleagues. It's all here.

Become a Member
Become a member and receive career-enhancing benefits

Our top priority is providing value to members. Your Member Services team is here to ensure you maximize your ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp member benefits, participate in College activities, and engage with your ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp colleagues. It's all here.

Become a Member
·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp

Recovery and Discharge

The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp is committed to providing you and your loved ones with the information and skills necessary to recover from surgery quickly and effectively.

Recovery and Discharge

Moving Forward

When the surgery is over, the recovery begins. Learn how to optimize your recovery and get back to your routine as soon as possible.

Tips for Recovering Well

Your surgical care team may have more specific instructions. Speak with your care team about the best way to recover from your operation. 

After Your Operation

You will be moved to a recovery room where your heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and urine output will be closely watched. Be sure that all visitors wash their hands.

Thinking Clearly

Anesthesia or pain medication may cause you to feel different for 2 to 3 days, have difficulty with memory, or feel more fatigued. You should not drive, drink alcohol, or make any big decisions for at least two days.

Nutrition

When you wake up from anesthesia, you will be able to drink small amounts of liquid. Continue to drink about 8 to 10 glasses of water per day. If you do not feel sick, you can begin eating regular foods. Eat a high-fiber diet (for example, beans, bran cereals and whole-grain breads, peas, dried fruit, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, sweet corn, broccoli, baked potatoes with skin, plums, pears, apples, greens, and nuts) so you don't strain while having a bowel movement.

Activity

Slowly increase your activity. Patients usually take 1 to 3 weeks to return comfortably to normal activity. Persons sexually active before the operation reported being able to return to sexual activity in 14 days (average).

Return to Work and School

Discuss the timing of returning to work or school with your surgeon. Typically, you are discouraged from lifting items heavier than 10 pounds or participating in strenuous activity for at least 4 to 6 weeks.

When to Call Your Surgeon

Call your surgeon if you experience:

  • Pain that will not go away or gets worse
  • A fever of more than 101 F or 38.3 C
  • Continuous vomiting
  • Redness, swelling, bleeding, or bad smelling drainage from your wound
  • Strong or continuous abdominal pain or swelling
  • No bowel movement 2 to 3 days after the operation