I had a single mastectomy with reconstruction. Bc of the reconstruction I was in the hospital 2 nights. Even though I had my husband to help me, I paid out of pocket for a nurse to visit me once a day for the first week after I got home. (I took money out of my retirement account to do it). She helped me shower, emptied my drains, and gave us good suggestions on how to manage the medication. Best money I ever spent. I highly recommend it if you can afford it. I advertised on Nextdoor.com and found a kind lady in my part of town (so she didn't have to drive far) who is a post surgical nurse. She made herself available for phone calls too if we had questions. Insurance almost neve covers this kind of care though i don't know why.

I had the single mastectomy, and they kept me overnight- I would have felt fine going home, though! I already knew what the restrictions would be post surgery, so I cleaned the house, did all the laundry- setting aside my comfy clothes for recuperating (including the zip up and button up tops). I cooked ahead and froze things so dinner would come together fast, did all the grocery shopping, getting critter supplies, and Rx's etc. I moved things down from higher shelves, etc.

I did all the drain and would care stuff on my own, no problem. My surgery was December 12th of that year, and I was making Christmas dinner for the family two weeks after discharge. I had to enlist the hubs help for lifting the turkey and ham, etc from oven-but everything else I could do.

I was surprised that I could manage pain with just OTC Tylenol. They cut through so many nerves that a lot of the pain messages don't make it to the brain. However, the incision for the lymph node dissection, I did find painful. I did well unless I fell asleep, and the meds wore off. Using an ice pack on and off for a few seconds at a time, helped bridge that time gap until the next dose kicked in! The center also provided- made by volunteers- small U-shaped pillows to go under the arm. It really helps to reduce the pressure/friction from your arm against the lymph node incision site.
A similarly shaped neck pillow, or even a small folded towel will work too.

I will be keeping you in prayers that you can stay over if that is what gives you peace of mind! Gentle hugs!

It really helped me to have a second pair of hands for the first 3-4 days post op to help with managing the drains because my mobility was a little too limited. This is only 5-10 minutes 2-3 times a day (less
if no reconstruction). I had family help but if you don’t have anyone, you should raise this to your team for home health care support.

You can try telling your surgeon that your scared to go home the day of surgery and see if they will let you stay the night. When I had my double mastectomy and reconstruction I stayed the night. It was better that way cuz I learned how to take care of the drains and got the IV pain meds.