Excerpt from article below:
"The first few days after surgery may pose problems with sleeping, especially if therapeutic positions are different from normal sleeping positions. Different types of pillow positioning may be helpful (especially under the neck and knees.)"
What To Expect After Surgery
A plastic drain will be seen through the surgical dressing to remove any blood that accumulates in the surgical area. The drain will probably be removed on the second day after surgery. The dressing will also be changed and a smaller one applied.
An IV may remain in your arm for two to three days to administer antibiotics or other medications you may need. This helps prevent infection and gives you proper nourishment until you are eating and drinking comfortably. You will begin regular fluid and food intake under the direction and advice of your surgeon. You may be given a "pain pump" or PCA-patient controlled anesthesia pump for the first 1 to 2 days after surgery.
After the acute pain has diminished, usually the day after surgery, a physical therapist will help you begin standing and walking again. They will also show you the proper way to get in and out of bed, sit and stand, and sleep position.
Pain
It is normal to have pain after your operation. It will be most severe in the lower back area where the surgery was done. Residual leg pain is not unusual, this is caused by swelling of the previously compressed nerve as well as from surgery itself. There may be muscle spasms across the back and down the legs. Medication will be perscribed to help relieve the pain and /or spasms.
Aftercare
During recovery, patients will lie on a side or supine (back). There may be pain and patients will typically wear compression stockings to avoid blood-clot formation, a complication that can occur after surgery. There may be a catheter placed in the bladder to collect and measure urine output. Pain medications will be administered, and sometimes the surgeon will allow patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with a pump that enables patients to self-deliver pain medications. Walking is encouraged hours after surgery and breathing exercises may be performed to avoid loss of air in a lung or pneumonia. It is advised to bend at the hip, not at the waist, and to avoid twisting at the shoulders or hips. The first few days after surgery may pose problems with sleeping, especially if therapeutic positions are different from normal sleeping positions. Different types of pillow positioning may be helpful (especially under the neck and knees.) To make getting out of bed easier, the patient should move the body as a unit, tighten the abdominal muscles, and roll to the side or edge of the bed and press down with arms on the bed to help raise the body while concurrently and carefully swinging legs to the floor. Typically, the surgeon will schedule an appointment with postoperative patients about one week after the procedure. At about seven days, the surgeon will remove any sutures (stitches) or staples that were placed during operation. Follow-up with the personal primary care practitioner occurs within the first month after operation.
