Hi,
Having just gone through this myself, I can say I will be forever grateful for my twin daughters presence 24 hours a day for the first four nights. After that, they'd stay until about nine or ten at night, usually arriving around 9 or 10 in the morning. What did they do? Anything I needed...help me sit up, scratch the bottom of my foot...pull the blanket up when I got cold and it was at the bottom of the bed...constantly finding me ice chips. After a few nights I found they didn't need to be there all the time and encouraged them to go get some rest (they were looking tired).
I was in the hospital for 10 days after the RC with neo bladder.
Helping your mom and dad after she returns home with housekeeping and meals will be invaluable for a week or two. It won't be that she can't do anything, she probably won't feel like doing much.
Hope this helps...good luck to your mom