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What questions to ask during pre-op appt?

GoingRogue

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GoingRogue    53

GoingRogue
Posted

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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laceemouse    631

laceemouse
Posted

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.

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GoingRogue    53

GoingRogue
Posted

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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teedsg    253

teedsg
Posted

Great topic! I need to make a cheat sheet!

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laceemouse    631

laceemouse
Posted

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.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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???

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ShelterDog64    2,364

ShelterDog64
Posted

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!

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Malin    470

Malin
Posted

@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.

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GoingRogue    53

GoingRogue
Posted

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.

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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!

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ShelterDog64    2,364

ShelterDog64
Posted

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

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teedsg    253

teedsg
Posted

@@ShelterDog64, this is good!

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Christina.Rose    287

Christina.Rose
Posted

Thanks! I emailed that to myself! Thoughtful questions

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Malin    470

Malin
Posted

@@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!

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AGreenEyedWolf    97

AGreenEyedWolf
Posted

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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Go To Topic Listing General Weight Loss Surgery Discussions

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    • Alisa_S

      Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.

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