Home Care after Mastectomy.

My advice based on experience is not  wait until you're in hospital & speaking to a  community liaison nurse, re a Discharge Plan.

For people who are living on their own, with not a lot of room for flexible allocation of help when you get home.... we need to know the array of options BEFORE we go into hosptial, so we can plan ahead and also know the 'technical' language of the support & who does it,  for when we are discussing a Discharge Plan while we are about to leave hospital.  Not only is that more efficient but it cuts down on stress.

I've noticed a disrepancy in 'knowledge preparation' between what was made available to cardiac patients and what was available to breast cancer patients.  The comprehensive pre-admission cardiac information  booklet  covered the practicalities of being at home post-surgery as much as it did the details of the surgery & immediate aftermath.  It even specifically referred to those people who live alone & the options they might need to take up,  in terms of home support services.   None of that detail was mentioned in the breast cancer pre-admission info booklets.

Which is why I say I was fortunate to have the cardiac experience before the breast cancer mastectomy.  I was able to talk with the excellent breast nurse... & also the surgeon.... about what I might need BEFORE being admitted.   When the community liaison nurse called to see me in hospital following breast surgery, it was easy to slot in actual services based on how I'd responded to surgery.

Fortunately, two of the best sources of information are this BCNA forum and the service offered by the Cancer Council, where they match you, on request, with another breast cancer patient who's already been through your present circumstances.  I was matched with a woman from Melbourne who'd gone thro' all treatment levels while living alone.  (This support is done via phone calls.)  She was a treasure in support, information & inspiration.