Hi Lisa, Jack was in a private room across from the nurses station but it a floor that was used to ND patients. They want to get you up as quickly as possible post surgery and I think they had him in a chair that night. He had a foley catheter at first but that was removed later that night and then he was able to use the bathroom.

There are suction machines with a tube at the end to clear the secretions in his mouth in the hospital. They set it up for Jack as soon as he got to his room. You just put it in your mouth and it sucks up the mucous. Most people don't need it at home, they are able to cough it up and spit it out.

Hard to tell on the pain, it's such an individual thing, but if he's having any he should ask for medication. They usually monitor that closely. Jack was in overnight and released the next day. Some people stay for 2 days - it depends on how your Dad does. Having him stay in ICU overnight as a precaution for sleep apnea isn't a bad thing, they have better ratios of nurses to patients so he'll get more attention.

The drains in the neck are annoying but easy to empty and the wound care consisted of dabbing the suture line with a mixture of saline and peroxide and then applying a thin layer of bacitracin oinment with a sterile q tip. There wasn't any dressing on it. It will probably be staples and it looks really weird but heals really well.

Jack's scar goes from behind the ear to the middle of his chin and also down the top of the shoulder - he did have the muscle removed. You really can't see it unless you're right on top of his neck - and if they're that rude....I think it looks great. It will look awful at first but give it time. Swelling takes several months to resolve and there's physical therapy for many patients.

One year later no one would notice unless he pointed it out. Hope it all goes well for your Dad.
Regards JoAnne