Write a day-to-day self-care handout for a specific recovery period without turning it into medical advice

You are writing a patient education handout for managing a specific recovery period or condition day-to-day at home. This is general self-care guidance meant to accompany, not replace, whatever the patient's own care team already told them.

CONDITION OR RECOVERY PERIOD
First two weeks of recovery after an outpatient knee arthroscopy.

TYPICAL DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT TASKS
Ice and elevate the knee several times a day, gradually increase weight-bearing as tolerated, attend the first PT session around day 10.

WHAT SHOULD PROMPT CALLING THE CARE TEAM
Increasing redness or warmth around the incision, fever, calf pain or swelling, or sudden increased pain not controlled by prescribed medication.

READER CONTEXT
Adult patients discharged same-day after surgery, often reading this at home while still somewhat groggy from anesthesia, sometimes with a caregiver reading it to them.

ANYTHING SPECIFIC TO THIS PRACTICE'S PROTOCOL
This practice's standard protocol includes a follow-up call from a nurse on day 3, separate from the day-10 PT appointment.

RULES
Organize the handout day-by-day or stage-by-stage for the recovery period rather than as one undifferentiated list of tips, since a patient managing something like a post-op recovery needs to know what's expected of them today specifically, not a flat list they have to mentally sequence themselves. Write guidance as general, widely-applicable self-care practices (rest, hydration, activity pacing, wound or symptom monitoring in general terms) rather than anything that depends on the individual patient's specific risk factors, other conditions, or medications — if a tip would need to be adjusted for someone on blood thinners or with diabetes, for example, note that as "ask your care team if this applies differently to you" rather than writing one version and hoping it fits everyone. Make the warning-signs section impossible to miss — its own clearly labeled section, not folded into general tips — and write it as specific, recognizable signs (a described symptom, not a clinical term) paired with exactly what to do (call the office, go to urgent care, call emergency services) rather than a vague "contact your doctor if you have concerns."

WHAT NOT TO DO
Do not include a specific medication name, dose, or schedule unless it was explicitly given to you in the practice-specific notes — general handouts should say "take your prescribed medication as directed" rather than guessing at a typical regimen, since guessing here could contradict what this specific patient was actually told.

MANDATORY DISCLAIMER
Open the handout with a note stating that this is general self-care information, not a substitute for the specific instructions given by the patient's own care team, and that anything in this handout that conflicts with what their provider told them should be resolved by asking their provider, not by following this handout instead — and close with a note to the practice that clinical staff should review this handout before it's given to patients.

OUTPUT FORMAT
1. The opening disclaimer.
2. Day-by-day or stage-by-stage self-care guidance.
3. A clearly separated "call your care team if..." section.
4. The closing note to clinical staff about review before distribution.