Home Care After Surgery, Three Urgent Things You Need to Know Now

By: Rosemarie Tamunday Casanova

Surgery has become a mainstay in the diagnosis, treatment and even prevention of many disease conditions in the 21st century.

Unknown tumors have been diagnosed after they have been surgically removed and assessed. In that same vein, other disease conditions have been treated by surgery and some others like breast cancer have been prevented by electing to have their breast surgically removed.

These reasons and many more, have made surgery indispensable in modern medicine. When having a surgery, there are many things one may have to put into consideration:

First is the pre-surgical considerations - It is very important to plan ahead of a surgical procedure (on the condition that the procedure isn’t an emergency, which may give a limited amount of time for adequate planning). Things like when and where to have the surgery done, selection of the right doctor, financial arrangements, and psychological preparedness. The patient may often need to get acquainted with the conditions for which they are being managed.

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Surgical procedures may be straining to the mind and body, and undergoing one may be a challenging period in an individual’s life.

The days and weeks after having a procedure done are nearly as important as the surgery itself. For if adequate and proper care is not given, the success of the surgical procedure may be affected and recovery time extended.

Therefore, it is imperative that detailed care and attention should be given to a patient from the very moment they are wheeled out of surgery and throughout the entire recovery phase.

Furthermore, there are other challenges also associated with having a surgical procedure done:

The patient may have to miss work or school as well as other important responsibilities and engagements in the process of their recovery.

For some patients, they may choose to stay admitted at the hospital for in-patient care and management, while others may opt for the aid of home health care services during this period as they may not find the hospital environment ideal or comfortable enough for them, and also for fear of nosocomial infections (infections gotten by virtue of one’s stay at the hospital ) .

In such cases, the services of a home health care agency like in home senior care would have to be brought in to offer such professional services.

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Why there may be need for home care post-surgery

Post-surgical patients are at risk of many things, these include falls, medication dosage and timing challenges, complications of the surgical procedure, dietary needs and requirements . Sometimes too, -depending on the type of surgery done- a patient may be required to make certain modifications at their homes.

For example, a man recovering from hip replacement surgery may be required to move from his bedroom upstairs to one down stairs to limit the strain incessant climbing may put on his healing joints.

The above mentioned challenges and more , calls for the need for a professional hand such a private nurse or a home health care aide.

Home Care Services that are Beneficial post-surgery

In the services of a home health care agency, there are certain expectations one may have. And a good agency should be able to provide such services. These may include but are not limited to the following:

•Transportation to and from the hospital for regular review with the doctor

Many post-surgical cases can be managed as out-patients. For this reason, they will be required to come to the hospital for regular follow up appointments in monitoring their recovery process.

Some of these patients, however, may not be in the best position to drive themselves to such appointments. Hence, the need for some sort of ambulatory service with the required equipment to keep them steady on their way to the doctor’s appointment and back.

•Provision for rehabilitation services for patients who may need them

Patients may need to relearn how to carry out basic muscle functions after a surgical procedure in areas involving nerves, muscles or the brain.

In such cases, it may be quite difficult returning to mundane activities on their own and rehabilitation services would be required to restore their muscle tone, nerve function, and coordination of movement. Good Home care agencies have the provision for such services.

•Reminders and monitoring of medications

Usually after surgery, patients are required to go on certain medications which may range from antibiotics and painkillers to immunity suppressing drugs . The dosages and timing of taking these drugs are crucial to recovery and an assisting hand is advised in ensuring that this is done as the patient may not be lucid, strong or psychologically stable enough to carry out such time-bound functions on their own.

•Proper wound dressing where required

To prevent the surgical site from getting dirty and infected, thereby compromising the healing and recovery phase of treatment, proper and regular wound dressing is usually required and this is done by a professional.

•Changing of dressings and sheets

This will be of a lot comfort to the patient and makes the environment clean and conducive as patient may require a lot of bed rest.

•Human availability for rapport and companionship

Human company is good for mental health, and as most recovering patients would be required to stay in bed with limited amount of movement from their immediate confines, it is good to have a trained personnel who can provide effective communication and companionship in such times as these.

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•Dietary needs and nutritional charting

The right kind of food is almost as important as the drugs the patient will have to take. Surgical procedures drain the body of its reserves as it may cause metabolic stress, loss of blood, loss of appetite, etc. Choosing the right diet with the adequate amount of nutrients helps to replenish lost ones and aid faster recovery.

The most important reason for a post-surgical patient to consider the services of a health care agency is perhaps the fact that they afford the patient exclusive care service. Unlike hospital-based management, the private duty nurse or the home health care aide has the one individual alone to cater for and does not need to juggle between many other patients. This provides more care time with better details to the recovery process.

When a patient chooses to go with home care agencies during their recovery journey after surgery, it’s best to pick a trained and trusted agency with a track record of professional services and positive outcomes. Agencies like RIGHT ACCORD Private Duty Home, a Sarasota Home Health Care Agency, provides impeccable services to patients recovering form surgeries.

Any of the our agents will be willing and available to provide the services you need on your journey to recovery. The recovery from surgery may be a challenging one as earlier established, but you don’t have to do it alone.