Will I need assistance during recovery?

[Lawrence13]

Im about a month out from surgery with Dr. Eid. I live alone in nyc and my girlfriend of 14 months left me about 5 weeks ago. I have no family near by. So I don’t really have anyone to help me through recovery should it become necessary. I’ve read recovery experiences ranging from “full blown living nightmares” to “ not really that bad.” It’s hard to get a sense of what the norm is…. If there is such a thing.

My question is this:

Will I be able to recover on my own with out any assistance?

I’m fairly self sufficient and will do all I can to prepare.

Any thoughts would be appreciated thanks.

[duke_cicero]

You are young and healthy, by your own admission. I was 34 when I had mine done. I lived alone and didn't have anyone around to help me. It wasn't fun for the first week, but it wasn't a nightmare. My thought is that you won't need help. But there are ways to make sure that your experience is easier.

The most important thing is setting yourself up for success in the days and weeks prior to surgery.

Deep clean your apartment. Have clean and comfortable bedding. Make sure you have access to the painkillers you need—and that you take them long before you think you'll need them (I learned this the hard way). Do not be a hero.

Make sure you have things like a portable urinator jug in the event that you can't make it to the toilet in time in the early days. A decent one with a handle is like $5 or something on Amazon.

Have bottles of water ready in every room in your apartment, if that makes it easier to remember to drink water. Surgery is bad enough on the body and requires heavy hydration in recovery. Painkillers make hydration even more of a necessity.

If you work from home or sit in an office chair for any amount of time, you're going to want to avoid putting pressure on the surgery site, so get yourself one of those donut pillows or fold up towels and place one under each of your glutes so you're a bit supported. This helped me a lot.

Organize your apartment and belongings such that you don't have to lift anything heavier than a few pounds for the first couple weeks. Make sure that you don't have to climb a bunch of stairs (or any stairs, ideally) immediately after returning home from surgery.

You mentioned getting an Uber Comfort on the way back from surgery. You may not be able to do this, because surgery centers usually require someone definite (rather than a random driver on an app) to take you home. There are medical taxi services that they can hire for this purpose. They're expensive, though. It might be better to have someone you trust pick you up. That person (whether the medical taxi driver or the person you know) will also be able to help you pick up your meds from the pharmacy.

I hope that your apartment has an elevator. It's not catastrophic if you need to use the stairs, but it might be uncomfortable. Give yourself time and be patient.

I'm sure others will have lots of useful tips from the field, but this is what I was able to come up with off the top of my head.

[ElbowRoom]

One thing that I did to make things easier was signing up for a pre-made meal plan. I used cookunity.com, they delivered very good quality fresh (not frozen) pre-made meals that just required a couple of minutes in the microwave. You probably won’t feel like cooking, and just being able to make a good meal in minutes is really great. It’s better for you than grocery store frozen meals or ordering delivered meals from a restaurant.

[learnmore]

Im about a month out from surgery with Dr. Eid. I live alone in nyc and my girlfriend of 14 months left me about 5 weeks ago. I have no family near by. So I don’t really have anyone to help me through recovery should it become necessary. I’ve read recovery experiences ranging from “full blown living nightmares” to “ not really that bad.” It’s hard to get a sense of what the norm is…. If there is such a thing.

My question is this:

Will I be able to recover on my own with out any assistance?

I’m fairly self sufficient and will do all I can to prepare.

Any thoughts would be appreciated thanks.

If you really need help I work in Midtown manhattan.
I will dm you my phone number.
I have two consultation appointment for surgery late april and early may.

[Old Guy]

I think duke gave you a good start. Best is prepare anything before surgery you'll want/need for a few days.
Extra battery for your phone or a close by charger
Snacks/meals in an easy to access place
A comfy couch or recliner. Bed gets old fast
Bags of frozen peas to ice your sack
Books, music, movies, games to pass time
Pain meds, and like mentioned use before needed. Once pain gets out of hand it's tough to calm it back down
And yes, every surgery center requires you to have a person to drive you home. Most want a 24 hour care person in case you have a reaction to the anesthetic. An Uber driver does not count.
However, if you prepare beforehand, you should be able to survive by yourself. I was home myself by day 3 although I slept most of days 1-3. And I am twice your age.
Best of luck.

[GoodWood]

I had my surgery with Dr Eid about a year ago. I had a really easy time of it. I didn’t need any narcotic pain medication postop. I followed his directions and except when getting up to empty the urine catheter bag, get something to drink or something to eat, I stayed in bed with an ice pack on my groin.

I’m married and my husband was around but I would have been OK on my own.

BUT, it was really great knowing that someone was right there in case there was an issue. He refilled the ice in my ice packs. Brought me stuff to eat and drink. Stuff I could have done, but I’m glad I was able to stay in bed to rest and heal for those first 3 days.


There are guys that fly in from outside the region for surgery with Dr Eid and they stay at a nearby hotel. They hire an unskilled care aide to just be with them for this same sort of thing.

It wouldn’t cost more than a few hundred dollars to have someone stay with you for the first 24 hours to just make sure you are fine. You don’t need a nurse. You just need an unskilled aide or companion.

I did a quick search and turned up this info for NYC:

⸻

Marketplaces (Often Fastest for 1–2 Day Help)

1. Care.com
• https://www.care.com
• Large marketplace for caregivers, HHAs, and companions.
• You can filter for NYC, hourly care, short-term or post-surgery help.

2. CareLinx
• https://www.carelinx.com
• Healthcare-focused platform with background-checked caregivers.
• Often used for post-hospital recovery at home.

3. Papa (Papa Pals)
• https://www.papa.com
• Mostly companionship and basic help (meals, errands, check-ins).
• Good if you just need someone around for a day or two.

4. Craigslist NYC – Healthcare Gigs
• https://newyork.craigslist.org
• People frequently post private-pay HHAs ($20–$40/hr) for short-term cases. 
• Cheap but you need to vet people carefully.

⸻

NYC Home Care Agencies (More Reliable, Slightly Higher Cost)

These agencies can send someone the same day or next day.
• VNS Health – provides home health aides for after-surgery care across NYC. 
• Medflyt at Home – tech-enabled home care agency with background-checked caregivers. 
• True Care – large NYC agency offering 24-hour home care. 
• CAS Private Care – private-pay caregivers available across all boroughs. 

⸻
Typical NYC cost (private pay):
• $25–$40/hr for a home health aide
• $200–$350 for a 12-hour shift
• $300–$500 for a 24-hour live-in day (often split between two aides)

⸻

✅ Tip for short-term surgical recovery:
Tell them specifically you need “post-surgical recovery assistance for 24–48 hours” — agencies keep aides on standby for exactly that type of case.


Hope that helps.

[1sfman]

Agree with all of the above. In my case, the hospital would not allow me to leave unless I had a person who could not only transport me home, but stay with me for the next 24 hours. They did not allow any commercial form of transport to be used. But, it was easy for me, my wife was there. It was an outpatient procedure, so I was released within 4 hours of when I was wheeled back to the OR. We stayed that night in a hotel as we live 2 hours south of Chicago, and wanted to be close to doctor/hospital if anything went south.

Upon returning home, I had little pain and no problem sitting. Your level of discomfort can be tied to if you had a PenoScrotal (PS) or InfraPubic procedure (IP). I think the majority of procedures tend to be PS, so if you're going down the PS route, the suggestions of pillows or other support under you when you set are spot on. I had an IP procedure and I could sit for as long or as little as I wanted with no additional pain.

Don't know if anyone mentioned it, but you will need an ample supply of ice. Our fridge was more than capable of keeping up with the demand. If you don't have an ice maker, you'll need to source it somehow. Ice is more critical than almost anything else.

The second day home, I was back in the kitchen making meals when not icing. I'm 74 and it went very well.

All the best to you in finding help home and at least one day of assistance, your surgery and recovery.

[Lawrence13]

You are young and healthy, by your own admission. I was 34 when I had mine done. I lived alone and didn't have anyone around to help me. It wasn't fun for the first week, but it wasn't a nightmare. My thought is that you won't need help. But there are ways to make sure that your experience is easier.

The most important thing is setting yourself up for success in the days and weeks prior to surgery.

Deep clean your apartment. Have clean and comfortable bedding. Make sure you have access to the painkillers you need—and that you take them long before you think you'll need them (I learned this the hard way). Do not be a hero.

Make sure you have things like a portable urinator jug in the event that you can't make it to the toilet in time in the early days. A decent one with a handle is like $5 or something on Amazon.

Have bottles of water ready in every room in your apartment, if that makes it easier to remember to drink water. Surgery is bad enough on the body and requires heavy hydration in recovery. Painkillers make hydration even more of a necessity.

If you work from home or sit in an office chair for any amount of time, you're going to want to avoid putting pressure on the surgery site, so get yourself one of those donut pillows or fold up towels and place one under each of your glutes so you're a bit supported. This helped me a lot.

Organize your apartment and belongings such that you don't have to lift anything heavier than a few pounds for the first couple weeks. Make sure that you don't have to climb a bunch of stairs (or any stairs, ideally) immediately after returning home from surgery.

You mentioned getting an Uber Comfort on the way back from surgery. You may not be able to do this, because surgery centers usually require someone definite (rather than a random driver on an app) to take you home. There are medical taxi services that they can hire for this purpose. They're expensive, though. It might be better to have someone you trust pick you up. That person (whether the medical taxi driver or the person you know) will also be able to help you pick up your meds from the pharmacy.

I hope that your apartment has an elevator. It's not catastrophic if you need to use the stairs, but it might be uncomfortable. Give yourself time and be patient.

I'm sure others will have lots of useful tips from the field, but this is what I was able to come up with off the top of my head.

Duke you are the man. I’m this is exactly the kind of guidance I was hoping to find. I figured that was what it would be but hearing it from someone who had lived it is what calms things for me. Yes thankfully I live in an elevator building. I may have my close friend pick me up or get a medical taxi service as you suggested.

The other points that sticks out is just being prepared and having my apartment in order.

[Lawrence13]

I think duke gave you a good start. Best is prepare anything before surgery you'll want/need for a few days.
Extra battery for your phone or a close by charger
Snacks/meals in an easy to access place
A comfy couch or recliner. Bed gets old fast
Bags of frozen peas to ice your sack
Books, music, movies, games to pass time
Pain meds, and like mentioned use before needed. Once pain gets out of hand it's tough to calm it back down
And yes, every surgery center requires you to have a person to drive you home. Most want a 24 hour care person in case you have a reaction to the anesthetic. An Uber driver does not count.
However, if you prepare beforehand, you should be able to survive by yourself. I was home myself by day 3 although I slept most of days 1-3. And I am twice your age.
Best of luck.

Hey old guy! I’ve seen seen a lot of suggestions for the frozen peas so I’ll likely do that. That other thing you mentioned about staying ahead of the with the meds I’m taking to heart. I had a surgery when I was younger and I did not follow that and to your point it made things very difficult.

Thanks again!

[Lawrence13]

I had my surgery with Dr Eid about a year ago. I had a really easy time of it. I didn’t need any narcotic pain medication postop. I followed his directions and except when getting up to empty the urine catheter bag, get something to drink or something to eat, I stayed in bed with an ice pack on my groin.

I’m married and my husband was around but I would have been OK on my own.

BUT, it was really great knowing that someone was right there in case there was an issue. He refilled the ice in my ice packs. Brought me stuff to eat and drink. Stuff I could have done, but I’m glad I was able to stay in bed to rest and heal for those first 3 days.


There are guys that fly in from outside the region for surgery with Dr Eid and they stay at a nearby hotel. They hire an unskilled care aide to just be with them for this same sort of thing.

It wouldn’t cost more than a few hundred dollars to have someone stay with you for the first 24 hours to just make sure you are fine. You don’t need a nurse. You just need an unskilled aide or companion.

I did a quick search and turned up this info for NYC:

⸻

Marketplaces (Often Fastest for 1–2 Day Help)

1. Care.com
• https://www.care.com
• Large marketplace for caregivers, HHAs, and companions.
• You can filter for NYC, hourly care, short-term or post-surgery help.

2. CareLinx
• https://www.carelinx.com
• Healthcare-focused platform with background-checked caregivers.
• Often used for post-hospital recovery at home.

3. Papa (Papa Pals)
• https://www.papa.com
• Mostly companionship and basic help (meals, errands, check-ins).
• Good if you just need someone around for a day or two.

4. Craigslist NYC – Healthcare Gigs
• https://newyork.craigslist.org
• People frequently post private-pay HHAs ($20–$40/hr) for short-term cases. 
• Cheap but you need to vet people carefully.

⸻

NYC Home Care Agencies (More Reliable, Slightly Higher Cost)

These agencies can send someone the same day or next day.
• VNS Health – provides home health aides for after-surgery care across NYC. 
• Medflyt at Home – tech-enabled home care agency with background-checked caregivers. 
• True Care – large NYC agency offering 24-hour home care. 
• CAS Private Care – private-pay caregivers available across all boroughs. 

⸻
Typical NYC cost (private pay):
• $25–$40/hr for a home health aide
• $200–$350 for a 12-hour shift
• $300–$500 for a 24-hour live-in day (often split between two aides)

⸻

✅ Tip for short-term surgical recovery:
Tell them specifically you need “post-surgical recovery assistance for 24–48 hours” — agencies keep aides on standby for exactly that type of case.


Hope that helps.

Good wood I am praying for the same recovery you had although in know it’s far from promised. You made a good point about the men who fly from all over to do this. I’m just so fortunate I live so close to one of the best surgeons in the world. My parents want to come up but I want to spare them that experience. Trip to nyc is tough for them. I honestly may just tell one of my close mates what’s going on and I know they will help me and keep my secret…. Probably with a few robot dick jokes as the price lol.