Post Surgery Recovery
Discharge instructions post pancreatic surgery
Following discharge, Professor Samra would like to review you in his rooms in 6 weeks’ time (in some cases it may be sooner and this will be discussed with you prior to discharge). If you could please contact his rooms to make this appointment once you are settled back at home.
It is also very important to ensure you have an appointment with your medical oncologist at around 6 weeks from your surgery date (which is usually around 4 weeks after discharge). This appointment will simply be a chat to go through your pathology report in detail and to discuss any other treatments that may be recommended. If you haven’t been referred to an oncologist yet, Prof Samra will ensure you are at discharge and an appointment will be secured for you. If you have any questions, please contact the rooms and it will be clarified with you.
Within 2-3 weeks following discharge Prof Samra would recommend linking up with a dietitian for ongoing advice moving forward. If you are doing well and don’t feel that you need this type of service at this time, this is not compulsory. Sometimes
just touching base with a dietitian is reassuring to confirm that you on the right track following the extensive input of the specialised dieticians in hospital.
You may already know a good dietitian linked with your oncology centre and this would be a great time to catch up with them. If you haven’t met anyone, and would like to, we can highly recommend the below dieticians who have worked closely with Prof Samra over many years. There may be some out of pockets costs associated, however this will be discussed with you prior to your appointment if you chose to access these services.
Pivotal Nutrition (patient information flyers are available from your nurses)
Phone: 0431555268
Caley Schnaid
https://www.caleyschnaid.com/ (patient information flyers are available from your nurses)
caleyschnaid.dietitian@gmail.com
Please ensure you have an appointment with your GP within a week of discharge so that they can keep a close eye on you moving forward. You will be given a copy of your discharge paperwork and histopathology report when leaving the hospital and it would be a good idea to keep this handy and bring with you to these initial postoperative appointments. Your GP and medical oncologist should receive a copy of this information however, if they don’t it is very useful to them if you have a copy.
If you become unwell or have any concerns please contact Prof Samra’s rooms on (02) 9436 3775 or if it is outside of normal business hours, please attend your local emergency department stating you have had recent pancreatic surgery under the care of Prof Samra. The emergency department will contact Prof Samra and his team directly to inform them of your condition and seek advice as required. The next few weeks are all about recovery and building up your strength. You have undergone major surgery and it does take a good 2-3 months to get back to all of your normal activities. As long as you are seeing weekly improvements moving forward then you are definitely on the right track!
