Be aware that your own surgeon will issue both pre-op and post-op instructions. Those instructions supercede any others, including the ones found on this site.
You've been cleared to leave the surgery facility - you're wearing loose fitting clothes and a close friend is going to drive you home. You're wrapped in ace bandages with your breasts tightly bound against your body.
What should you be doing when you get home?
- Still no cigarettes. Optimize your chances to have the best results possible.
- Take your pain meds on a scheduled basis for the first 48 hours. You shouldn't be in pain - that's why your doctor prescribed them.
- Your doctor may have given instructions to ice yourself with bags of frozen peas* - follow his instructions. Someone should be around to get those peas for you and tend to your needs for the first 48 hours.
- Your doctor wants you to move around as soon as you can - but no exercise and no lifting anything heavier than 5 pounds.
- You want badly to look at your breasts - but leave the dressing intact. You don't want an infection. Your surgeon will remove it during the first post-op visit and teach you dressing care at that time.
- Keep the dressing dry. You feel like taking a shower but you know you can't - sponge baths only until the incisions are healed. Your surgeon will let you know when.
* Some doctors do not recommend using bags of frozen peas. Follow your physician's instructions.
Have your doctor's contact info handy. You should call with any questions - your doctor expects it.
