I had a huge list and now I'm blanking. What did you ask at your pre-op or what do you plan on asking?

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My #1 question was how long the pre-op diet was and what it entailed.

Later I thought about things like pain management after surgery.

On my first appointment they gave me a check-list of everything required to get approved by my insurance. Basically all I needed was a psych eval to be approved. Then my surgeon had some pre-op testing for me to do.

Ask about a usual timeline from insurance submission to surgery.

I let the surgeon talk first and then asked items mother mentioned. Also he encouraged me to email any additional questions.

Not mentioned. Hate auto correct.

My surgery is in 7 days. Pre-op is tomorrow. So yeah I'm already neck deep in the diet and have done everything else required.

So far I'm wondering if I'll have stains and if he will give me something to make me "happy" before taking me to the OR. I feel like I should ask a million more questions.

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Great topic! I need to make a cheat sheet!

My surgery is in 7 days. Pre-op is tomorrow. So yeah I'm already neck deep in the diet and have done everything else required.

So far I'm wondering if I'll have stains and if he will give me something to make me "happy" before taking me to the OR. I feel like I should ask a million more questions.

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The anesthesiologist called me the day before surgery to see if I had any questions, but I missed the call. He came and talked to me before surgery though.

Yes, they did give me something to calm me down (in the IV) before they took me to the OR. It knocked me out, I don't even recall entering the OR. The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.

Stains???

Here are some of the things I wanted to know:

1) what kind of meds pre-op? (this was a good time for me to drive home about my severe nausea from inhaled anesthetics...led to me getting a scopolamine patch in pre-op area plus anesthesia was able to use primarily IV agents for surgery to reduce the nausea)

2) would I have a urinary catheter placed during surgery, and if yes, would it be removed before I went to recovery?

3) how do most patients feel immediately post-op? (this ended up being a very important question for me...I woke up in the PACU in very severe pain, right at my sternum. But I knew it wasn't abnormal and was able to stay calm until I got some dilaudid on board)

4) would I have stitches or staples or skin glue on my incisions?

5) what kind of pain relief once I got to the room where I'd stay overnight?

6) expectations for mobility/showering while I was in the hospital?

7) would I have to meet any benchmarks in order to be discharged? (ie, have to be able to urinate, have to be able to drink 'x' ounces without vomiting, etc)

8) what meds should I expect to go home on? what should I do if the meds aren't doing the job?

and then I made sure I had a VERY concrete understanding of the first month's post-op instructions were...what EXACTLY I was expected to eat/drink during that period of time.

Good luck!

@ShelterDog64 THANK YOU, THANK YOU for posting this info!!! I'm leaving in 15minutes for my pre-op!! (My surgery is Monday!) I wrote these questions down.

My surgery is in 7 days. Pre-op is tomorrow. So yeah I'm already neck deep in the diet and have done everything else required.

So far I'm wondering if I'll have stains and if he will give me something to make me "happy" before taking me to the OR. I feel like I should ask a million more questions.

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The anesthesiologist called me the day before surgery to see if I had any questions, but I missed the call. He came and talked to me before surgery though.

Yes, they did give me something to calm me down (in the IV) before they took me to the OR. It knocked me out, I don't even recall entering the OR. The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery.

Stains???

LOL Drains not stains!

@@Malin How did your pre-op appointment go?

@@ShelterDog64, this is good!

Thanks! I emailed that to myself! Thoughtful questions

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@@ShelterDog64 It went very well! I asked some of the questions you had suggested, and

I feel even more at ease with my decision. (I was catheterized several times as a child, it still freaks me out! now I know that this surgery is so quick, I won't have to have one!). I've had to move my surgery back one week for multiple reasons, but I'm so ready to do this!

Here are some of the things I wanted to know:

1) what kind of meds pre-op? (this was a good time for me to drive home about my severe nausea from inhaled anesthetics...led to me getting a scopolamine patch in pre-op area plus anesthesia was able to use primarily IV agents for surgery to reduce the nausea)

2) would I have a urinary catheter placed during surgery, and if yes, would it be removed before I went to recovery?

3) how do most patients feel immediately post-op? (this ended up being a very important question for me...I woke up in the PACU in very severe pain, right at my sternum. But I knew it wasn't abnormal and was able to stay calm until I got some dilaudid on board)

4) would I have stitches or staples or skin glue on my incisions?

5) what kind of pain relief once I got to the room where I'd stay overnight?

6) expectations for mobility/showering while I was in the hospital?

7) would I have to meet any benchmarks in order to be discharged? (ie, have to be able to urinate, have to be able to drink 'x' ounces without vomiting, etc)

8) what meds should I expect to go home on? what should I do if the meds aren't doing the job?

and then I made sure I had a VERY concrete understanding of the first month's post-op instructions were...what EXACTLY I was expected to eat/drink during that period of time.

Good luck!

Great questions! Having seen these, I plan to ask them myself... I also plan to ask when after surgery I'll be able to resume my normal meds for other medical issues I have, and what meds if any ill be sent gome with (and gow they will react with my refular meds) since that is something very important to me.

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@@AGreenEyedWolf Definitely ask those questions about meds! My practice uses a PharmD appointment as part of the pre-op pathway, so he went through all my meds with me, wrote a plan for which ones I needed to stop for surgery, which were ok and which would work post-op and made the necessary changes in my medical notes/record. It was extremely helpful!