Orthopedics is tough. It can hurt like hell, and they want you to keep ahead of the pain, but.

So, at risk of getting this old thread banished to Pills and Ills....

After my Achilles tendon surgery, I *HAD* to take narcotics to "keep ahead of the pain." I took the minimum number of pills before I brought the remainder to the local police station for disposal.

For my robotic assisted prostatectomy, I was not to shave anything, period. Please, listen to your doctors. It's not always a "favor."
(That said, somewhat surprised to wake up shaved where they shaved.)

After my surgery, I was hooked up to a patient controlled morphine drip, with instructions to again, "keep ahead of the pain." (I ended up using zero doses for the day I was a patient.)

Late that night, my roommate returned from complications from leg amputation surgery, and all night long loudly demanded morphine. The nurses let them know that the "pain team" was on the way. On the way. On the way.
The next morning the pain team expressed their concern about how to treat their pain given their prior abuse history.
That completely sucked, because I have no doubt that they were in pain. Rock, hard place.

Anyhow, I'm lucky that my Sasquatch factor is floating point underflow. I have always had more hair on my toes than I do on my legs.
(I also lost my armpit hair to hormone therapy. Which led to the interesting conversation with a nurse, "Well at least you don't have to shave anymore. Oh." But I got to keep my head hair and beard, so yeah!)

So, no, I don't shave my forearms.

-mr. bill