S: Showering and bathing is also very important to ask the team about.
If you’ve had surgery and your incision is well healed, you can probably shower starting
the day after you go home.
In the shower we usually say to use a really mild soap, something without perfumes or deodorants.
Rinse all the soap off thoroughly, and then take a nice soft towel and pat the incision
dry.
Don’t rub it, because that’s going to hurt, but you need to get the incision very
dry.
The other thing to talk to your health care team about is regular activities.
You need to know when you can go back to doing your housekeeping, when you can go back to
regular exercise, when you can go back to having sex, all those things are very important
to discuss with the team.
The physiotherapist is a good person to be able to talk to about an exercise program
and safely returning back to what you can do.
The other thing to remember is being tired.
You can expect to be a bit more tired than usual once you go home, partly because you’re
not doing a whole lot once you’re in the hospital here and you start to do a bit more
once you go home.
But remember that if you’re feeling tired, you may need to schedule some rest period.
Having a nap mid-morning and mid-afternoon is okay, but in between that we want you up
and about as much as possible.
So, just remember to ask your health care team what limitations there are to your activities
when you go home.
E: Okay, that’s great.
And how soon can I go back to driving so that I can resume my normal life?
S: That’s important too.
Driving is going to be determined by why you were in the hospital.
If you’ve had surgery or some medical condition that requires you to go home on pain medication,
we ask you to be off all pain medication before you start driving or operating any sort of
heavy machinery because the pain medication can sometimes make you groggy or drowsy.
Some medical conditions will also require you to not be driving for a significant amount
of time – it could be up to 6 weeks.
You need to ask your team if there are any specific limitations to you.
Again, if you’ve had surgery, you need to be able to safely turn to check your blind
spots in comfort.
So, those are all sorts of important things to think about before you start driving again.
E: Alright.
And, how about having help at home?
Am I going to need someone to be there to help me out?
S: Yes, we usually recommend that you try to have someone there to help you out with
daily chores and regular activities.
That could be a family member, friend or neighbour – whoever you have around.
If this has been a planned admission to the hospital, we hope that you’ve already arranged
for that help before you came in.
But, sometimes you may have been admitted unexpectedly, in which case we ask you to
try to arrange some help before you go home.
If you’re going to require visiting nursing care, what we call CCAC or Community Care
Access Centre, all of those arrangements will be made before you leave the hospital.
Quite often we will give you some supplies to take home with you, and the rest will be
delivered to your home once you get there.
Remember that most patients don’t require home care when they get home.
But, if you think that you’re going to need extra care or extra help at home, ask to speak
with our social worker, because they know all of the community agencies that are out
there that are available to give you some help once you get home.
E: You haven’t said anything about eating.
Do I need to follow a special diet when I go home?
S: Diet, again, is going to be determined by the reason why you were admitted to the
hospital.
If you’ve had surgery or something that is going to require you to change your diet,
it’s important that you speak to a dietitian before you leave.
Remember, if you’re not the one who is doing the meal preparation or cooking when you get
home, have that person there with you when you talk to the dietitian and they go over
everything.
Quite often, we just want you eating as balanced of a diet as possible.
But, remember if there are any special requirements, you need to ask your health care team about
that.
If you were already a diabetic when you came in – say you came in for lung surgery – you’re
still going to be a diabetic when you get home, so you will need to continue following
that special diet.
E: Okay.
Now, this is a lot of information.
Is there anything else that I need to know?
S: The only thing we haven’t talked about yet is booking your follow-up visit.
It’s important that you ask your team when they want to see you back and who they want
you to follow up with.
It might be a doctor or surgeon who cared for you here in the hospital, or they may
ask you to follow up with your family doctor.
If you’re coming back to a clinic here at the hospital, it’s important that you book
your appointment well in advance; the clinics here often book up very quickly.
So, if your doctors tell you that they want you back in four (4) to six (6) weeks, please
call the office within the first couple of days of going home and book that appointment
for the future.
The other thing is, if you’re following up with your family doctor, you may be going
home with stitches or staples in that need to be removed.
The nurses will give you the equipment to take with you, as sometimes the family doctors
don’t have that equipment out at their offices in the community.
S: Okay.
This is a lot of information that the team will already give me.
Why do I need to ask them all these questions?
E: You’re right; a lot of this is stuff that you’ll automatically receive.
And, remember that most of it is in the information package that you’ll receive that we talked
about earlier.
But, the more we talk about it, the better prepared you’re going to be for going home.
And, the more questions you ask, the more it makes you a part of our health care team,
which is really important.
E: Okay, so is that it?
S: I think we’re finally finished.
If you do have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Remember to jot down questions so that everything is answered for you before you go.
And, once you get home, remember that there is always someone here for you to answer questions.
So, I hope that by talking today we’ve got you a little better prepared, and that you’re
a bit more comfortable about going home.
E: Okay, Susan.
Thank you so much for coming in to see me, and I do appreciate the time that you’ve
spent, and I do feel a little bit better about going home now, so thank you.
S: That’s great – you’re welcome.
Take care.
Thank you for watching the video.
We hope that you found it helpful.
Please remember to always discuss questions you have with your health care team members.