For the person driving them home
Someone you care about has a joint replacement coming. You’re the one who’ll drive, carry, remind, and worry — usually while pretending not to worry. This page is for you: what actually helps, when, and how to do it without taking over.
Before surgery day
Help get the house ready — it’s the biggest gift
Most of what makes the first week home go smoothly is decided before surgery: clear walkways, a recovery spot on the main floor, bathroom setup, groceries and meals sorted, rides arranged. It’s also the easiest thing to share — you can do most of it even from another city, by phone and delivery orders.
- Work through the free room-by-room checklist together — print it and split the items.
- Confirm the equipment their surgical team recommends (walker, raised toilet seat, ice) is at the house before surgery day.
- Agree on the driving plan: surgery day, follow-ups, and physical therapy visits for the first weeks.
Go to the pre-op visit if you can
Two sets of ears beat one. Bring the pre-op visit sheet, write the answers down, and keep the copy — you’ll be the one everyone asks later. Make sure you both know who to call after hours and what symptoms the team said deserve a call.
The first week home
Your job is logistics, not nursing
The surgical team and physical therapist own the medical plan. You own everything around it:
- Meals within reach, water bottle filled, phone and charger at the recovery spot.
- Ice routine support and a simple written schedule for the day — small structure lowers everyone’s stress.
- Watch the walkways: rugs, cords, pets underfoot. Falls prevention is mostly housekeeping.
- Keep the list of “call the team if…” symptoms from the pre-op visit somewhere visible, and if either of you is unsure, call — that’s what the number is for.
Help them do it themselves
The kindest help after the first days is often less help: recovery generally goes better with movement, and the exercises their team prescribes are the job. Cheer the walker laps. Ask “did you get your session in?” instead of “should you be doing that?” — unless their team said otherwise, gentle prescribed movement is the plan, not a risk.
Two things worth knowing
Expect an emotional dip
Some people have a teary, discouraged stretch in the first weeks — tiredness, disrupted sleep, and slow-feeling progress add up. It’s common, it usually passes, and it isn’t a sign the surgery went wrong. If a low mood deepens or doesn’t lift, encourage them to mention it to their care team.
Take care of the caregiver
Line up your own backup for at least one day in the first week, keep your own appointments, and sleep. You’re more useful rested than heroic.
Want the two of you working from the same plan?
The JointPrep program lays out the weeks before and after surgery day by day — exercises with sets and reps, home prep, what’s typical each week, and what to ask the team. Many members work through it with their helper; there’s nothing to install and no subscription.
See the program — $49, one-time Or start with the 2-minute readiness quiz
General education for families, not medical advice. Your surgical team’s instructions always come first.