Is a one night hospital stay recommended for bilateral mastectomy?

@catann
I was sent home after my lumpectomy and had 1 1/2 hour drive which normally wouldn't have been so bad, but I don't do well with anesthetic and should have remained in hospital. For my second surgery which was partial mastectomy on both sides, I did stay overnight. I found out that if you are a Medicare patient, that you can tell them you need to stay and that is allowed. With the amount of stitches and having tubes in, I think it's a fair request to stay overnight so you can get your bearings. My surgery lasted 6 hours and I was in no shape to return home and am glad I stayed overnight. All the best to you.

I had a bilateral mastectomy last July and stayed overnight one night at Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota

Thank you for your reply. It seems an overnight stay in the hospital after a bilateral mastectomy is pretty standard. I don’t see why they should do things differently in the Phoenix, Az Mayo Clinic.

Thank you for your reply Trixie, I think I will be more insistent with my doctor. I don’t think I will be ready to handle the drains and all that after a six hour surgery.

@catann
Do you have someone to help you when you're home? The first couple of days my husband helped me with the drains and then I was able to and after that I could do it all.

I can't imagine going home right after a bi lateral mastectomy .....I had mine in the afternoon, stayed overnight and went home the next afternoon. I would push for one night for sure, due to anesthesia, pain meds (which you'll need intially) and keeping an eye on any complications - infection, drain malfunctions, etc. When I got home my husband wasn't very good at helping with the drains but I did ok with that on my own. Good luck and hugs.

Absolutely, at least one night.

When I met with my surgeon at Mayo 2 weeks ago she said they are trying to send everyone home the day of because of Covid.

I would hope they would have completely separate staff and hospital wings and surgical areas for non Covid patients. If not, that would be concerning. My mom recently had congestive heart failure and has hospitalized for 6 days here in Colorado. They had completely different areas for Covid patients in the hospital and for patients like my Mom. the Doctors explained that the staff for Covid was never in contact with other patients or hospital areas. I would think Mayo would have a similar system. Something worth asking about perhaps? Hugs

They do have separate places, I believe they are completely different campuses but I do believe they said that that was their policy. I think it’s a goal more than a definite. If people are not in a condition to be discharged they won’t.