After this, you will be taken to your room or comfortable area where you can rest and recuperate until we feel you’re ready to go home.
Pain relief
The affected area will be painful but we'll give you pain relief while you’re in hospital and when you go home.
We will provide you with a supply of all the medicines your consultant feels you need to take home with you after you've left hospital, up to 14 days. This may be at an additional cost to some patients.
Recovery time
Depending on your progress and the type of surgery you had, you’ll be able to go home between two and seven days after the operation.
You should walk around as much as possible to reduce the risk of blood clots and drink lots of fluids.
For about two weeks you’ll have a catheter in place to drain urine into a bag but one of our professional and caring nurses will advise you on the care of the catheter to minimise the risk of infection.
We’ll ask you to come back in to have stitches or clips removed after a couple of weeks.
Everybody recovers at a different pace and it might be several months before you feel back to something like your old self. Generally recovery time is faster if you’ve had keyhole surgery. Talk to your doctor or nurse before the operation and at follow-up visits about how long you’re likely to need time off work.
How your loved ones can help
You won’t be able to drive while you have a catheter bag in and your doctor and insurance company are likely to ask you to wait for a period beyond that. So you should ask a loved one to pick you up from hospital and do some light errands for you.
Looking after you
When you leave we’ll provide you with all the medication and information you need.
Typically your consultant will want to see you after your treatment to see how you’re doing. A follow up appointment will be made before you leave the hospital.
On rare occasions there can be complications. If you experience any of these symptoms – a urinary tract infection, stress incontinence (when urine leaks because you coughed, sneezed or made a sudden movement) or impotence – call us straight away. We will talk to you about the possible risks and complications of having this procedure and how they apply to you.
If you have any questions or concerns, we’re ready to help.