You will be contacted by the hospital prior to your surgery date with your admission time. Please arrive at the time specified and bring all your documents and medications.
You will be taken to the pre-operative area where the nursing team will complete your checks. You will meet your anaesthetist, who will discuss the anaesthetic plan with you. In most cases this will be a spinal anaesthetic.
You've had your surgery — well done on getting this far. After surgery you wake up in the recovery room. Almost all of our patients have a spinal anaesthetic due to its benefits for pain relief, reduced intra-operative bleeding, and lower risk of blood clots.
If this is the case, your legs will be numb — this is normal, and nothing to be alarmed about. Once your spinal has faded, you'll make the journey to the ward or high dependency unit. This is variable and can take 30 minutes to several hours. I will always try to call your next of kin after surgery to let them know how things went.
Ask for ice as soon as you're comfortable — it's your best friend in the early days. Wiggle your toes and ankles to pump blood around your legs and reduce the risk of clots. Foot pumps will be attached to your feet to assist with this.
Early in the morning I'll come past to do my rounds. Hopefully you've had ice on your wound overnight and managed to change into your rehab pyjamas. Our physiotherapists will progress you further today.
Take your time getting up — your blood pressure can be a touch low, which may cause dizziness. Sit on the edge of the bed and wiggle your toes for 30–60 seconds before your first stand. You may find lifting your leg is harder than yesterday — this is normal and related to thigh swelling. It will return over the next few days.
Either last night or this morning, you will have the peak of any discomfort — this is when the spinal and local anaesthetic wear off. Recognise this, manage it well with analgesia, and know that once it passes, you're on the home stretch.
Our physiotherapists will assess your safety for discharge, and our physicians will confirm you are medically ready and have analgesia to take home. We rarely require rehabilitation in a rehab centre — most patients do better at home.
Ice is your best friend for the first few weeks — it can be as effective as strong pain relievers for swelling and discomfort. Walk in short spurts of 5–10 minutes with regular breaks. Do not overdo things in the first weeks.
Driving is permitted 2–3 weeks post-operatively once you can walk with a stick at most and are not taking heavy pain relief during the day. Your next appointment is around the 2–3 week mark.
If you have concerns at any time, please don't hesitate to reach out: