Statistics have shown that contacting patients for their surgical procedures is in the range of 30 percent. This means that 70 percent of patients having surgical procedures either were not home when the call was made or received a "vanilla" voice message of instructions prior to their day of surgery. This information should assist you in being better prepared when arriving at the hospital on your day of surgery.

Physician Office Instructions: Most often, the surgeon's office will instruct you on how to prepare for your surgical procedure. Often, there are omissions to how the hospital or out-patient surgical center deal with admissions on the day of surgery. Admission procedures are usually universal, which means they follow federal or State health guidelines. Follow what your physician's office provided as to your diet intake prior to surgery. This means that you may be asked to discontinue solid and liquid intake between the hours of 9pm to 12 midnight the night before surgery (endoscopy procedure differ and will be added to a subsequent article). If you are taking Cardiac or hypertension medications, you should ask your physician if you should take these medications the morning of your procedure. Most physicians instruct their patients to take these medications with a small amount of water.

Preparations essential for the day of surgery: The following elements are essential to being admitted to the surgical area efficiently without delays:

1. Wear loose clothing on the day of surgery. You will be grateful, depending on your procedure when it comes time for discharge. This is imperative when you are having any surgery on your limbs (arms or legs) or central body areas.
2. Limit all jewelry to a wedding band. Most facilities will tape a wedding band prior to surgery. Earrings and body piercings should be removed.
3. Comfortable shoes or slippers are preferred for discharge to home.
4. Prepare a list of your medications for the admissions nurse. List the name of the medication, the dosage, and how many times you take the medication on a daily basis. Also, it is important to add any herbal or vitamins taken daily.
5. Be prepared to list your allergies. All allergies to medications, foods, and latex will be essential during your procedure.
6. Bring a picture identification document (license), insurance card, and (optional) living will. The living will is a document that you can get from the facility and should be filled out several days prior to you procedure. This document allows you to determine your care if or when it becomes necessary for someone you designate to make medical decisions for you. This document is most often needed if you have increased risks medically (heart, lung disease) or elderly.
7. Do not wear make up the day of surgery, dark nail polish, or fake nails. Make up has a tendency to obscure your true coloration post-operative. If your breathing is limited, your coloration on your face will be an obvious sign of insufficient oxygenation which will alert staff to correct. Nail polish, particularly metallic, can effect the accuracy of oxygenation and set off alarms unnecessarily. Fake nails of certain lengths do not allow proper fitting of most oxygen detectors and cause false readings.
8. If you use a CPAP machine at night for sleep apnea, you will need to bring your devise to the hospital. Most hospitals or out-patient centers will have the Bio-Med department check the machine and may be used during your recovery time.
9. You should bring your MP3 player or DVD to listen to your favorite music while you wait for your procedure. Most facilities offer TVs for distraction but your favorite music may be the better option.
10. Allow the staff to know if you wear glasses and/or hearing devices. These items are often removed prior to surgery but will be given to you when you arrive in the recovery room area.
11. Tell the staff if you have any metal pins in your body from previous surgeries or have a pacemaker. If you do have a pacemaker, bring the identification card given to you for the device.

Lastly, have arrangements for travel to home. If you do not have a means to go home, you should call the facility to see if they have a transport van for home transport. Local taxi cabs are reluctant to transport people who have undergone surgical procedures.

Recovery Room: You will be taken to the recover room after your procedure and there are several items that will improve your experience.

1. You most often will be extubated ( breathing tube removed) prior to you awakening. If not, you will hear the nursing staff telling you that they are removing this tube. Most often, you are still medicated and you will probably not remember this happening.
2. If you are in pain, the staff will ask you to describe your pain level according to a number scale, 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Providing your pain level will assist the staff in medicating appropriately.
3. For procedures extending over three hours, you may feel discomfort in the genital region while awakening in the recovery room. This is the sensation of a catheter inserted into your bladder to drain urine. This catheter will most likely be removed once you are awake.

Very few patients leave the recovery room with no pain on discharge. The goal is to make you comfortable but not sedate you to the point of not being coherent. You will have medications prescribed by your physician to take at home along with discharge instructions pertinent to your specific procedure.

Any questions you may have can be requested below in the comment section. I check comments daily and will attempt to answer any concerns.

Be prepared and have a safe surgical experience.

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