Hi vmchow,
I was only in the hospital for a week, and then I went home. I walked so much in the hospital that I got to know every single nurse, doctor, and secretary on the floor. So, I was ready to get out of there. That is my advice for the hospital. 1) Walk as much as they will let you. I would have walked all day if I could. 2) Even if they let you eat whatever you want, don’t overdo it. Your digestive system is jacked-up. I progressed slower through the clear liquid, full liquid, etc. plan than the doctor even gave me permission to

Once I was home, it was a matter of staying up on my pain medication and not overeating. If I ate too much I felt miserable. I had a 12” incision, so it took a bit longer on the pain medication. I also was careful WHAT I ate. Low fat/low sugar was helpful for me. Getting my digestive system back on track took a bit of time. Also, the pain meds are notorious for causing constipation. From time to time I would take one of the powder packets of Miralax. That helped a lot. And…I walked. I would walk as far as I felt comfortable a few times a day.

I went back to work part-time 4 weeks after surgery and was full-time at 6 weeks. I am a teacher. I could have been full time at 5 weeks, but it was Spring Break. My surgeon said that he has seen so many people go back to work full-time too early and then have to back off.

Hope this is helpful. Probably more information than you wanted. 🙂