Nobody ever wants to hear that they need surgery. You try to take care of your body and mind so you don’t end up needing expensive procedures or complicated surgeries. However, sometimes your body doesn’t want to cooperate and you end up needing medical attention anyway. A large medical procedure can be scary. You don’t know how you’ll recover or how long you’ll need to stay on bed rest. It can affect not only your physical health, but your job, your social life, and your financial situation as well.
After surgery, you may be excited to get back on your feet and back to normal. That being said, there are plenty of steps you need to take to fully recover and you should be sure not to push yourself too hard before you are ready. With expert care from your doctors and patience on your part, you’ll be back to normal soon. It’s all about coping with where you’re at in the present moment and finding the techniques that help keep your mental and physical health in check as you’re working to feel better. Here are just a few tips to help you get back on your feet after a serious medical procedure.
Find ways to get back to a sense of normalcy.
After a serious surgery, you may feel confused or all out of sorts. Especially if your procedure involved a lot of in-hospital care and disrupted your life for a couple of days. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to reestablish your routine and find that overall sense of normalcy again. Set regular times to wake up, do some work, exercise a bit, and have social time. Staying on that schedule will help you feel motivated. It can also help you find your balance again and not feel lost while you’re recovering.
It can also be difficult to fully get back to normal if everyone is treating you like you are fragile. You don’t want to be seen as the victim or a weak person just because you’re recovering from a medical procedure. See what you can do to feel more like your old self. Get out of bed and put some real clothes on rather than just pajamas. Throw on travel clothes for women and go for a drive. If you can use external factors to make you feel like your old self again, it can be an outstanding tool to help you feel like everything is back to normal.
Figure out if you are owed compensation.
When you get a medical procedure, you are putting a lot of trust in that doctor’s hands. No matter what you’re going in for, whether it’s heart surgery, scoliosis treatment, or to fix a broken bone, you want the best care 100% of the time. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen effectively. If you feel you have experienced medical malpractice or are the victim of a serious mistake, you may be owed compensation for your injuries or recovery process. Needing additional treatment because of negligence or a medical error can be costly for you. Consult with a lawyer to see if you may be owed compensation. This can give you the peace-of-mind that your finances will be taken care of as you recover even further.
Work from home for extra income.
Recovering from any medical procedure may take time. And during that recovery period, you may need to take extended leave off from work. This can mean a loss of income which can add extra stress to your recovery. Consider ways you can continue to earn extra funds even from home. Can you freelance your skills online from your bed? Do you have skills as a teacher who can tutor from home? Are there extra items around your house that could be sold to make a profit? Consider these ways that you can earn your keep and make a little extra income while you’re on leave from your main position. Not only will this help you feel more secure financially, but it will help you figure out how to stay busy at home. Give yourself a purpose again and find a new career that you may absolutely love.
Learn to love yourself again.
Surgery can leave you with scars not just on the outside of your body but also in your soul. During your recovery period, you may want to put some special effort into learning how to love yourself again. It’s understandable, being confident about your body is a difficult thing even without scars or signs of a serious procedure. But remember this, your body is an incredible vessel that takes care of you and helps you live the life that you absolutely love. Take the time to practice self-love, talk to someone about your experience, and rely on your support system. This may be a difficult time for you overall, but learning to love yourself, scars and all, can greatly improve your mental health and motivation.
Consult with and listen to your doctors.
Anything to do with medicine can be incredibly complicated. This is not a circumstance where you want to go it alone. Consult with the doctors who helped with your procedure and schedule plenty of follow-up appointments. Your specialists, nurses, and doctors have your best interest at heart and they want to be sure you get back on your feet when you are ready. They will also be closely monitoring for any problems that may come up as you recover. Fostering a good relationship with your doctors is the best way to guarantee your recovery will go smoothly.
Get up and move a little every day.
You may think recovery will just look like laying in bed and doing nothing every day. That is not the best approach. As you’re getting used to your new body, you need to get up and get moving every day. Of course, don’t strain yourself, but don’t get lazy either. Talk with your doctor about what is right for you. But the more you get up and get moving, the more you’ll adjust to your post-surgery body.
