Need advice about fistula please

[Sapphire187]

Hello! I had my first surgery for a fistula today. Surgeon connected my brachial artery to my basilic vein at the elbow. I had a nerve block in my arm that was starting to wear off while I was in recovery. It is a few hours later and it has almost completely worn off. The nurse said they didn’t give me enough of the nerve block. When I was discharged they didn’t tell me anything except to try not to bend my arm and I can take the dressing off tomorrow . I had to ask about exercising the arm with a soft ball. She didn’t know anything about that. So my question to those that have a fistula, (1) when should I start to do the exercises - how soon after the surgery? (2) how many times should I squeeze the ball per exercise? (3) how often should I exercise it each day? Is there anything else I should be doing? Any other tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.