After mastectomy surgery, it is important to allow yourself adequate time to heal. Your surgeon will send you home with specific guidelines to follow, but these tips can serve as reminders to aid your recovery at home.
- Get plenty of rest. You have been through a major ordeal with your diagnosis and surgery and may be starting chemo soon. It is normal to feel fatigued. Allow yourself time to rest for the first few weeks after surgery.
- Take pain medication. You don’t have to “tough it out.” Your doctor prescribed pain medication to ease your discomfort. You may feel a mixture of numbness and pain. Take your prescribed medication according to your doctor’s instructions to help alleviate pain.
- Stay clean and refreshed. Although you can’t submerge in a bath until your drains or sutures have been removed, you can keep yourself feeling refreshed with showers or sponge baths. You might be amazed how cleaning your skin can lift your spirits.
- Do your arm exercises. Your surgeon will recommend exercises to keep your arm and shoulder from feeling stiff and inflexible. These really do work, so make sure you make them part of your daily routine.
- Enlist friends and family. Everyone offers to help when you are recovering. Take them up on it! From meal preparation to laundry to shopping to childcare, let your friends and family show their love by helping you with daily tasks.
At Park Meadows Cosmetic Surgery, we are dedicated to helping women through the process of breast reconstruction after mastectomy. Call us at ( 303) -706-1100 to schedule your consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon.
