Day of Surgery

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I wasn’t nervous until the nurses began wheeling me into the OR, but that was short lived. Dr. Goldstein introduced me to all the nurses, scrub techs and anesthesia. Soon enough, I was completely unconscious. I don’t remember much except the last few minutes in recovery. I had really only been worried about being a needy patient, and sad enough that it was I became. I was overcome with nausea from the anesthesia. The anesthesiologist did give me a nice cocktail in the OR, but I still ended up incredibly nauseated which got worse with each movement. I tried to wait it out in the hospital, but realizing that it wasn’t getting much better I opted to go home instead of taking up a valuable bed. When we finally got home, I just crawled into bed. I woke up a few hours later and the nausea was mostly gone. Dr. Goldstein called a couple of times to check on me before the day was over.

Preparing for surgery:

• Remove all metal and jewelry – leave it at home or have your family member keep it
• Leave all valuables at home or let your family be responsible for them
• Don’t wear dark colored nail polish – it can mess up the oxygen sensor reading (pulse ox)
• Dress comfortably – something that’s easy to change in and out of
• Check with the doctor to see if you can wear your contacts. Bring glasses & a case just to be safe.
• Do not use lotion, oils or creams before your surgery
• Make sure you have someone to drive you home or set up an appointment with a medical transfer van
• Make a list of all medication you take, the dosage, and the last time you took them
• Make a plan with your doctor about when to stop taking your prescriptions
• Do not take any herbal medicine for 2 weeks prior to your surgery
• Stop taking medications like Tylenol and Ibuprofen 5 days before your surgery
• Follow the diet order – don’t eat or drink anything after midnight the night before