How to Gauge How Long You Will Stay in the Hospital/Doctor's Office After a Mastectomy

If your doctor determines that you need mastectomy surgery, there will be many questions that you will want to have answered. Keeping a list of these questions can help ease your mind. One of the questions you may ask is: How long will I stay in the hospital/doctor’s office after the surgery? There are a few different resources you can use to find the answer to this question.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet access
• Computer

1. Your doctor is the best resource to answer all of your questions. Ask your doctor how long you will stay in the hospital after mastectomy surgery to get the most informed answer.
2. Ask people who have undergone mastectomy surgery in the past. If you know someone who has had mastectomy surgery, especially recently, they may be able to give you a pretty good idea of how long you will be in the hospital after the procedure is completed.
3. Mastectomy surgery can be an outpatient surgery but the normal hospital stay for a mastectomy surgery is one to two days.
4. Complications from mastectomy surgery are rare but they may occur. If you do have complications after mastectomy surgery it can prolong your hospital stay Some complications include bleeding, infection and blood clots.
   
5. Follow the doctor’s orders. Your doctor will have a list of things you should and should not be doing before the mastectomy surgery. Follow these instructions to improve your chances of a short hospital stay.

Tips & Warnings

• Most people don’t experience extreme pain after mastectomy surgery. Inform the hospital staff if you have a lot of pain.
• You will have drainage tubes for one to two weeks after the surgery to aid in recovery.
• Do not take any aspirin or blood thinners prior to mastectomy surgery. Thinned blood could increase your chance for complications and prolong your hospital stay.