I'm Christine Garland, an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery coordinator with Alberta Health Services.

I'm going to help you understand the important role you have in getting ready for your surgery, and getting better after your surgery.

Remember, the best time to plan for your recovery is before your surgery.

Alberta Health Services follows a program called Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, which we also call ERAS.

It has been used around the world for more than 20 years.

It helps people feel better and heal sooner after surgery.

ERAS started after studies showed that some ways of doing things before, during, and after surgery worked better than others.

With ERAS, the focus is on getting you back to your normal life as soon as possible.

This means being well-nourished and hydrated before, during, and after surgery.

It also means keeping active before surgery, and moving soon after surgery.

What's important about ERAS is that you are a part of the team.

You will take an active part in getting ready for your surgery and getting better after surgery.

If you've had surgery before, you may notice a few things that are different about your ERAS surgery.

For example, you will eat and drink closer to your surgery time, get out of bed on the day of surgery, eat normal foods soon after surgery, and use a log book to track your progress.

Doing these things helps you to heal better, feel better, and go home sooner, with much less risk of getting a complication such as pneumonia or a blood clot.

Your hospital stay is where we look after you while you need medical support, but your real recovery starts at home.

At home, you can be more comfortable, eat foods you know and like, get more rest, and sleep better at night.

How long you stay in hospital depends on a few things, including the type of surgery you're having.

We'll help you work towards milestones that will determine when you can go home, like being able to eat solid food, taking painkillers in the pill form, and moving around well.

A hospital stay after surgery can be as short as 2 nights and 3 days, so if your surgery is on a Monday, you could go home as soon as Wednesday.

Some people with more health problems may be in hospital for longer.

Your surgeon will tell you how long you can expect your stay to be.

It's important to plan for discharge before your surgery so you can go home as soon as possible.

This means your family or caregivers should be ready.

This series of videos will tell you what you can do at home to get ready for surgery as far ahead of time as possible; what you need to do the day before and the day of your surgery; what you can expect at the hospital before your surgery, in the operating room, the recovery room, and in your hospital room; what your role is in helping your care team to manage any pain or nausea that you may have; why eating and getting moving is so important for your recovery; what you can expect when you're discharged home.

Remember, you and your family are part of your healthcare team.

By working together towards clear goals every day, you'll recover much faster and get back to your normal life.

If you or your family members have any questions or worries, ask your healthcare team about them right away.

That way we can help you plan to go home as soon as you reach your milestones.

Remember, there's no place like home for recovery.​​