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I wish I wasn't such an expert on this topic. Unfortunately I am. When I got out of the military and had my heart attack, it was essential that I become expert on how to recover after surgery. Along with my heart attack, I had a dissection of my lateral aortic descending artery. Imagine one of the main arteries in your heart shredding like an old garden hose. That describes what happened to me. The dissection required cardiac catheterization, where a guide is threaded from the femoral artery into the heart. During my catheterization, I also had a stent put in to help the flow of blood through the dissected area. All of this is done under what doctor's kindly call "conscious sedation." I call it being awake and feeling everything that happens. Catheterization is a painful process. I have had five of them since the initial event. As if the heart attack wasn't enough, a year after the heart attack, I was physically assaulted. I was leaving work around 9pm on a Friday night, when two men drove up, supposedly seeking directions. I could smell the alcohol from about five feet away. I tried to get back inside the building. I didn't move fast enough. When all was said and done, I had been stabbed. My arm was broken. My ankle was broken. I had numerous cuts and bruises. After the assault, I needed four more surgeries. This history is why I am now such an expert on how to recover at home after surgery. I am also an expert on this subject because I live alone. Most times when I get home from the hospital, I am by myself. If I have assistance, it is on a very limited basis. Thus, when people are around to aid me, I have to get the biggest bang for the buck. My caretakers have to provide all the assistance I need in a very short period of time. How can the wisdom of my experience help? I have actually created a list of post-surgery, at-home requirements to speed recovery. I have provided this list to friends and family. I have their declarations that it helped aid the recovery process. I am providing it here, with the hope it will aid in speeding the at-home recovery process for someone.

1) Make sure to have someone pick up all of the required post-surgery prescriptions. After surgery, it is critical to have the right antibiotics, pain medications, fever reducers, etc. to expedite healing. Picking these up personally after surgery is not something you will want to do.

2) Once you have the required medications, make sure they are nearby.

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