Pain
You won’t feel pain during surgery, but you may feel it afterwards. Your nurses will give you painkillers, which will make a big difference, and you’ll also quickly figure out which movements to avoid. Try to resist the temptation to keep testing to see if things feel any better – it helps to be patient and give your body time to heal.
Bruises and swelling
You’ll get bruising and swelling as your body repairs the wound created by surgery. If this doesn’t improve as the days and weeks pass, or if your wound bleeds after your operation, get in touch with your doctor.
Feeling very tired
After surgery, your body focuses most of its energy on healing the affected area. But that can leave you feeling tired, especially as you’ll still be getting over the anaesthetic and might not fancy eating much either. Give yourself time to recover.
Infection
Your surgery team will do everything they can to make sure you don’t get an infection, but it can still happen. If your wound gets warm or red or starts leaking fluid, get in touch with your doctor straight away – you might need antibiotics.
Not wanting food
This is a common one, but usually passes in a few weeks. In the meantime, eat what you can when you fancy it.