Clean & Organize: You will feel much better knowing things are clean and tidy in your home. Moving around after surgery is tough, make your life a little easier by cleaning your home and organizing things so that your necessities are easy to find and get to. This will also make it easier for caregivers to find what you need at any given moment.

Rearrange Furniture: If your surgery will affect your range of movement, mobility, or stability, make your home patient-safe by removing obstacles or furniture that may block the entrance-way to the bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen.

You may also want to make sure you have an ‘at-arms reach table’. A place where you can put things you need to get to often, such as your phone, remote, books, water, etc.

Prepare Food Ahead of Time: It is amazing how much it helps to have ready meals. You can freeze meals in family-size portions or single-serve. Stock up the pantry and the fridge. It may be a little while before you are comfortable going to the store. The purpose of preparing before surgery is to ensure ease-of-mind and eliminate stress while you recover. Having ready-to-eat meals will be a big stress-reliever.

Pay Bills: If you are able, pay some of the bills upfront or set up autopay. This will give you peace of mind and prevent any late charges. This may seem like a small thing, but anything you can do to avoid stress will help your overall recovery process.