How long does it take to recover from cancer surgery?

Recovery time varies a lot. You may need only one day, or many weeks, to have and recover from surgery.

How long you need depends on several things:

• The type of anesthesia. With local or regional anesthesia, you will probably return to work more quickly than with general anesthesia.
• The type of surgery and how extensive it is.
• The type of work you do. An active job may require more time off than a desk job. If your job allows, you may be able to work from home or start back part-time to ease in.

Two recoveries, on two clocks

People plan for one recovery and are surprised by a second.

The first is the wound. Incisions close, drains come out, and the surgeon signs off. This is the timeline you get quoted, and it is usually the shorter one.

The second is stamina. Getting back to full energy takes longer than getting the staples out, and it does not move in a straight line. A good day followed by a flat one is normal rather than a setback. Planning only for the first clock is what leaves people demoralized in week three.

What the operation itself changes

The surgical approach matters. In open surgery, the surgeon makes one large cut to remove the tumor and some healthy tissue around it. In minimally invasive surgery, the surgeon makes a few small cuts and works through a laparoscope, a lighted tube that lets them see inside.

Ask which approach is planned for you and whether the other is possible, then ask what each would mean for time off. Ask, too, whether other treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation is scheduled afterward, since that changes what your next few months look like.

Signs to call about

The NCI lists the risks of cancer surgery as pain, infection, bleeding, damage to nearby tissue, and reactions to the anesthesia.

Before you leave the hospital, get written instructions and a phone number for after hours. Call for a fever of 100.4 °F (38 °C) or higher. Call for increasing redness, swelling, warmth, or drainage at the incision, or for bleeding. Call if pain is getting worse rather than better, or if pain medicine is no longer holding it.

New shortness of breath, chest pain, or swelling and pain in one calf should be treated as urgent.

Set things up before the date

Ask your doctor how long you will need to recover from your surgery, and ask for that estimate in a form you can hand to your employer.

Ask about limits during that time: when you can lift, drive, shower, and be alone. Then arrange the practical parts in advance, since the first week home is a bad time to be organizing rides and meals.

If you expect a longer recovery, talk with your employer about medical leave, and check that your health insurance will cover costs while you are not working. Ask the hospital's social work or financial counseling office for help with those forms; that is what they are there for.