Your Recovery: Caring for Yourself at Home

About Your Discharge

• Your doctor will determine when you are able to go home.
• You will receive written instructions (discharge instructions) from your nurse before you go home. Please feel free to ask your doctor, resident, fellow, or nurse for help or information
• The day and time of your first follow-up visit may be set at this time or you will be given instructions when to call to schedule your appointment 

Caring for Yourself at Home

Each day following your surgery, you will feel better. Here is a guide to some general instructions for you to follow to aid in your recovery:

• The incision fades over time. You may notice an indentation in your skin, sore muscles, tightness in the leg, and difficulty moving the leg. Stretching and range of motion exercises help and should be started as soon as permitted. A physical therapist or other practitioner can set up an exercise program to increase your leg’s range of motion.
• The drain and stitches may be removed during your first follow-up visit. The area must be kept dry and sponge baths may be recommended.
• Lotions or powders should not be applied to the incision area until healing is well underway.
• You may feel either numbness or tingling (pins and needles) in your groin or on the inside of your upper leg. This is due to damage to the local tissues, nerves, and blood supply that occurred during the operation. This will gradually improve over the next several weeks. Sometimes, small areas of numbness may remain.
• Your incision will be covered with a dressing to help the wound heal and prevent infection.
• Your nurse will instruct you on when to schedule your first post-op visit.

Activity

• Do not raise your leg above hip level on the affected side until your drain is removed
• Do exercises given to you to help regain mobility and prevent swelling (lymphedema)
• Continue posture, mobility, and strengthening exercises until you have no difficulty moving your leg in all directions
• Do not drive until after your drain is removed or until advised by your surgeon
• Do not drive if you are taking narcotic pain medication
• When sitting, prop your leg on a pillow to prevent swelling; if swelling occurs, lie in bed and raise your leg on pillows higher than your head
• If your drain has been removed and you have no dressing on your incision, clean it daily with soap and water

Call Your Doctor Right Away If:

• Your temperature is above 101°F or you have shaking chills
• You have an increase in swelling or redness near the area of surgery
• You have green or yellow drainage from your surgical incision or drain insertion sites
• You have bleeding from the incision which is difficult to control with light pressure
• The skin around your incision or drain site becomes hot to the touch
• You smell a foul odor from any of your surgical sites
• You notice that there is leakage around your drainage tube and the gauze dressing is soaked (larger then a 1 inch area)
• You are vomiting for longer than 24 hours
• You have diarrhea (loose stools 3x a day) lasting more than 24 hours

When To Notify Your Doctor

If your drain is left in place after your first postoperative visit, call your doctor when the fluid in the collection bulb is 30 ml. for two days in a row or if you cannot relieve a blockage in the drain tubing. 

A groin dissection removes many of the lymph nodes that protect against infection, and the leg and foot on the affected side may become more susceptible. Let your doctor know if you sustain any minor injuries to your affected leg(s).