Considering options for your loved one’s post-surgery care can be overwhelming. In late life, post-surgery care can be much more complex and tedious, and be required for a longer period of time. Once the patient has made a full recovery, follow-up care like physical or occupational therapy may be required. Knowing where to begin and how to address your loved one’s unique needs doesn’t have to be stressful. Finding a long-term care facility that specializes in post-surgery care can not only reduce your physical, emotional, and sometimes financial burden, it can raise the quality of care your loved ones will receive as they recover.
Immediately Following Surgery
Many post-surgery patients require a multitude of care types, depending on their surgery type, injury type, overall health, and fitness level. While wound care is likely to be the primary initial focus post-surgery, caregivers or nursing staff also need to consider the following:
- Has my loved one/patient’s medication changed?
- Will my loved one/patient need help with pain management?
- Has eating or speaking changed for them post-surgery?
- Will they have an increased likelihood for falls post-surgery?
- Is my loved one/patient’s post-surgery care more than a one person job?
If you decide to care for your loved one at home following surgery, there are many other challenges you’ll need to consider. This includes their level of mobility post-surgery, and what is required to get them from place to place, including from the hospital to home, from the car to the house, and from the one room of the house to another. It’s important to consider that patient care is often round-the-clock immediately post surgery.
Down The Road
While the road to surgery recovery in late life can be long, it’s not impossible to care for your loved one from home. However, surgery recovery is complex and cumulative. While surgical wounds heal, a variety of other patient needs will likely arise, including the following:
- CVA & Orthopedic Rehabilitation
- Physical Rehabilitation (including verbal rehabilitation for some)
- Bariatric care
Handling your loved one’s post-surgery care goes beyond wound care, and chances are, even if you’re mentally equipped to do the job, your loved one will require equipment, space, medical supplies and expertise in modern medical practice to get them back on their feet. There is also always some risk of complication post-surgery, and often the at-home environment is not set up to quickly diagnose complications and treat them on the spot.
How Long To Recover
When considering the time and resources you’ll need to commit to your loved one’s post-surgery care, it’s important to understand that all bodies and minds heal differently, and at different rates. Your loved one’s care team will give you an estimated recovery time, but a full recovery can take months or years in late life. Even the most knowledgeable and compassionate family members often struggle to keep up with the post-surgery care of a loved one.
Post-surgery and post-illness care at Divine Rehabilitation and Nursing At Sylvania looks a lot like it would in the comfort of your loved one’s home, except that our state of the art equipment, expertise in modern medicine, and multitude of rehabilitation services are available to them 24 hours per day. We take special care in making your loved one feel like our family too. Read more about our reputation for professional and compassionate care, or schedule a tour with us today.
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