Hi Stephine,
My wife stayed with me the whole time they had a chair that pulled out into a bed I'm sure it was not very comfy. For the first few days he will need his Moraphine he will have a button that he can push when he needs it but they will not want him to feel any pain so my wife would push the button a few times a night while I was asleep so the pain would not wake me (advised by my doctor)
also when he is on the "button" he won't remember much so you can be his recorder. It will be at least 6 weeks before he can lift more than 5-10 lbs The catheter stayed in from the time of the operation until it came out 4 weeks later normal is 3 weeks but my third week was Thanksgiving week so I had to keep it one extra.He will not be able to drive until the catheter comes out. I look at this as a two stage recovery. The first is getting over the operation and getting your strength back. The second is learning control and stretching the neo- bladder to the correct capacity ( I think this part is the worst)at first I had to "go" about every 1/2 hour now just one week later I can go 1 1/2 hours and void around 100-150 cc each time but they want you to build up to 400-500 cc he will wear Depends or something like it at bedtime and he should sleep on a water proof pad I put a towel over mine. Once the catheter comes out he can manage on his own so I would plan on taking a month off for you and 8 weeks for him. I will return to work as soon as I can go 2-3 hours between voidings I am a real estate agent so this is a good time of year for me to be off.If I missed anything let me know.
tim