Here are some of the ways you may feel when you are home again after surgery. The paragraphs in quotes are what some teens said about their feelings.
After receiving such intense care from the doctors and nurses at the hospital, you may feel nervous or scared about going home with just your family.
How will you feel when you are back at home after scoliosis surgery?
"I know that I was scared to go home. ‘Cause of how well they took care of you and like, the nurses knew what they were doing."
After receiving your pain medication through the pain pump while at the hospital, you may feel nervous or scared about relieving your own pain at home.
"I didn’t really want to go home because they had all the pain pumps there. They had all the medication. I didn’t know if I was going to get the medication that I needed."
You may wake up in the middle of the night and be afraid of being alone even though your family is sleeping just down the hall.
"It gets quiet at night and you’re like, ‘Oh, God.’"
How to cope with your feelings
Fear of leaving the hospital
Set up a support system before you go into the hospital. Make sure you have a parent, friend, family member, or neighbour close by to help when you are at home.
"I wouldn’t go down the stairs or outside. Like what if I fell or something? I just wanted to know that my parents, or sister, or neighbour were home or something like that."
Before you leave the hospital, the physiotherapist and nurses will teach you and your parents how to turn in bed, get out of bed, get in and out of a chair, walk, and go up and down the stairs.
"For the recovery part, you’re going to need support for like, getting up out of your bed and going to the washroom, doing little things like that. You will need people there for three or four weeks."
Tell people what you need from them.
"Something will be like a centimeter away and I’ll be too sore to pick it up and I don’t want to bug (my friend). It’s like ‘can you get it?’ But support helps you recover faster."
Fear about pain control
It is very normal to be afraid of controlling your pain on your own. Once you’ve been home for a couple of days, you will settle into a routine and you will learn to manage your pain on your own, with help from your parents.
Before you leave the hospital, the doctor will give you a prescription for some pain medication. Have your parents fill it before you go home.
A nurse will talk to you about how to time your pain medication once you are at home. They will also provide tips on how to deal with pain.
Fear of being alone
Most teens feel afraid to be alone for about one month following surgery. Keep in mind that this is very normal.
"I was just afraid to go home. Then when I got home and I lay in my bed, it was just perfect. I was like, I don’t want to go back to the hospital."
Most teens feel afraid when they wake up in the middle of the night and they are alone. This usually lasts for about a month and is a very normal reaction.
"Sometimes I wouldn’t need my parents but I’d just wake them up….I’d yell ‘Dad, get up’ and then he’d come running and I’d be like, ‘OK, hi.’ I just needed to know that they were still here."
You can also ask family members to sleep with their door open, or have a nightlight in your room. If you have trouble falling asleep, maybe your mom or dad can sit with you for a while until you can fall asleep.
"One night I was really sore and I couldn’t take any more pain medication because I had already taken it. My mom came and sat with me and I fell asleep like, right away, just knowing that she was right there."
Remember that you can also talk with any of your health care team professionals at any stage about your emotions, worries, concerns, and questions.