These are my principle recommendations:
1. Figure out where you want to go for rehab now. You don’t want to do trial and error with this after your surgery. Try to find a place that will give you an hour twice a week. Your next choice would be half an hour three times a week. Have them evaluate your strength and give you prehab exercises now if needed.
2. Talk with your personal physician now about how they’ll help you sleep post-op, since most people have a lot of trouble sleeping. I could never get my pain under control, so I used a sleep aid, which overrode the pain.
3. Figure out where you’ll sleep post-op. If you sleep with your spouse, the blankets might be too heavy because your incision will be very sensitive. I slept in a twin bed in another room for the first three months with only a sheet to minimize the weight. If you stay with your spouse, arrange to sleep on the same side of the bed as your operated leg, even if that means switching sides.
4. Rent the ice machine when the time comes.
5. Buy yourself a bolster to elevate your leg instead of using pillows.
6. Buy adult diapers and use them as soon as you get home from the hospital because the poly meds will wreak havoc on your system.
7. Be prepared to lose your appetite and don’t stress if you crave unhealthy food. Get your protein any way you can.
8. Realize there’s a happy medium to doing rehab. It’s possible to try too hard, which will increase swelling and inflammation, so don’t do that. A good PT is worth his/her weight in gold.
9. Don’t expect a quick recovery. It took me seven months to be glad I had the surgery.
10. If you have a dermatologist, maybe consult them about whether it’s possible to minimize the odds of getting a hypertrophic scar like mine.
11. If you’re doing your right leg, make sure your car’s breaks are in good condition because you don’t want to have to press too hard on the pedal.
Good luck!