Your surgeon's instructions override everything in this article. What follows is a general description of what the first three post-operative days tend to look like for international patients recovering in Medellin. Your specific procedure, your health, and your surgeon's protocol are what govern your recovery. If anything here conflicts with what your doctor told you, follow your doctor.
That said, most patients arrive at the first 72 hours with no mental model for what they will feel like, and the gap between expectation and reality is where anxiety lives. This is an attempt to close that gap.
The Arc: Surgery Day Through Hour 72
Leaving the clinic
Most outpatient procedures in Medellin discharge the patient the same day, typically two to four hours after the procedure ends. You will be groggy, possibly nauseous, and unlikely to remember the discharge conversation clearly. This is why a companion or recovery house staff receiving you matters. Someone needs to hear the post-op instructions, accept the medications, and know what to watch for tonight.
You will be in compression garments or bandaging. You may have drains. You will probably be wearing clothes you do not remember putting on. The drive from the clinic to your accommodation should be short (this is why proximity matters), and the car should be clean and comfortable. Your clinic may arrange the transport. If not, your companion handles it.
The first evening
Pain is typically manageable on the medications your surgeon prescribed. Nausea from anesthesia is common and usually resolves within six to twelve hours. You will probably not want to eat. Sip water. If your surgeon has cleared clear liquids, try broth or aguapanela (a Colombian panela sugar-water drink that is warm, hydrating, and easy on the stomach).
Your job tonight is to rest, stay hydrated, take medications on schedule, and not try to do anything. Your companion's job is to set medication alarms, monitor for anything the discharge nurse flagged, and keep the apartment quiet. The first shower does not happen tonight unless your surgeon specifically instructed otherwise.
The morning after
You will wake up more swollen than you went to bed. This is normal. Swelling peaks over the first 48 to 72 hours and then slowly starts to resolve. Do not evaluate your results today. What you see in the mirror on day one has almost no relationship to what you will see at week six.
Your clinic will probably contact you via WhatsApp to check in. This is standard in Colombian medical culture and is one of the underappreciated advantages of recovering here. Your surgeon's team is reachable by message, often responds within minutes, and can assess photos you send. Use this. Do not wait to see if something "gets better on its own" if it concerns you. Send the photo, describe the symptom, and let your team tell you whether it is normal.
Today you should try to eat something. Scrambled eggs, soup, fruit. Small portions. Protein is important for tissue repair. Colombian corner stores sell fresh fruit and yogurt for very little. If you cannot keep food down, report that to your clinic.
Movement begins
Many surgeons encourage short walks starting on day one or two, depending on the procedure. "Short walk" means five to ten minutes at a slow pace, ideally inside the building or on a flat, quiet street. The purpose is circulation, not exercise. Blood moving through your legs reduces DVT risk. Standing upright periodically helps fluid drain from surgical sites. You will feel like you are moving through water. That is the combination of pain medication, swelling, and general post-anesthesia sluggishness.
Constipation typically hits by day two. Opioid pain medications slow the bowel. If you packed stool softeners and fiber (as our packing list recommended), start using them now. If you did not, a drogueria has what you need. This is not a minor inconvenience. Post-surgical constipation combined with abdominal surgery can be genuinely painful.
First follow-up
Most surgeons schedule the first post-op appointment on day two or three. Your surgeon examines the surgical sites, removes or adjusts drains if applicable, checks vitals, assesses swelling, and updates your care instructions. This is the appointment where your companion should take notes or record (with permission). You are still on pain medication and may not retain everything.
After this appointment, you will have a clearer picture of your recovery trajectory. Your surgeon will tell you when the next visit is, what to watch for, and when certain restrictions (no lifting, no bending, no driving) will be reassessed. By the end of day three, most patients describe the experience as "manageable but boring." The initial fear has passed. The pain is controlled. The swelling is at its worst but understood. The waiting begins.
The WhatsApp Advantage
Colombian medical culture communicates by WhatsApp in a way that surprises many international patients, particularly those from the US or Canada where reaching a doctor requires going through a receptionist, a message system, and a callback window. In Medellin, your surgeon's coordinator (and sometimes your surgeon directly) is typically available on WhatsApp during business hours and responds to after-hours emergencies reasonably quickly.
Use this tool without guilt. Send a photo of the swelling you are concerned about. Ask whether the discharge color is normal. Confirm your medication timing. The staff expects these messages and will tell you clearly if something needs an in-person visit versus continued observation. "Is this normal?" is never a stupid question during the first 72 hours.
When to Call, Not Message
WhatsApp is for questions and minor concerns. The following symptoms warrant a phone call to your surgeon's emergency line or a visit to the nearest emergency room:
- Sudden, severe pain that your prescribed medications do not control
- Active bleeding that soaks through bandaging and does not slow with pressure
- Fever above 38.5C (101.3F)
- Difficulty breathing or chest pain
- Signs of infection: increasing redness, warmth, swelling, or pus at a surgical site after the first 24 hours
- Calf pain, swelling, or tenderness in one leg (possible DVT)
- Any symptom your discharge instructions specifically told you to report immediately
Colombia's emergency number is 123
For life-threatening emergencies, call 123 from any phone. For situations that are urgent but not immediately life-threatening, call your surgeon's after-hours line first. They know your case, your procedure, and what to look for. A trip to a general emergency room is appropriate when you cannot reach your surgeon and the symptom cannot wait.
What Nobody Tells You
The first 72 hours are emotionally harder than they are physically dangerous. The physical discomfort is managed by medication, compression, and rest. The emotional experience is managed by understanding that what you are feeling is normal, temporary, and shared by virtually every patient who has ever had surgery abroad.
You will feel vulnerable. You are in a country that is not your home, recovering from a procedure that hurts, looking at a swollen version of yourself that does not yet show results. That is the reality, and it passes. By day five or six, you will feel meaningfully better. By day ten, you will wonder why you were so anxious. By week six, you will not remember what day three felt like.
The 72 hours are not fun. They are not supposed to be. But they are temporary, manageable, and the beginning of the result you came for.
Have questions about what to expect?
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