The Day of Surgery

The morning

Shower with antibacterial soap. [1] Brush your teeth as normal. [1] Skip lotion, powder, perfume, and deodorant. [1] Take out contact lenses, jewelry, makeup, nail polish, and piercings. [1] Take only the essential medications you were told to continue, with a small sip of water. [1] Put on loose, comfortable clothes.

When you arrive

Expect registration, then a pre-operative area where you change, and then a stretch of waiting that usually feels longer than it is. In that time you will meet several people, and several of them will ask you the same questions: your name, your date of birth, what operation you are having, and which side. That repetition is deliberate. It is a safety check, not disorganization.

An intravenous line goes in. The anesthesiologist will talk with you about your medical history and what kind of anesthesia you will have. This is a good moment to mention if you have ever had nausea after anesthesia, because it can be planned for.

In the operating room

The room is bright and cold, and there are more people in it than you expect. You will be moved onto the operating table, monitors go on, and the anesthesiologist will start the medication. Most people remember the oxygen mask and then nothing until they are waking up.

How long the operation takes varies, and the total time you are away from your family is longer than the operation itself, because it includes getting settled beforehand and waking up afterward. If your family is given a time estimate, treat it as an estimate.

Waking up

You wake up in the recovery area with a nurse close by. Grogginess, a dry mouth, a sore throat from the breathing tube, and shivering are all common and all pass. Say something as soon as you feel pain or nausea rather than waiting to see if it settles. It is much easier to get ahead of both than to catch up.

If you had laparoscopic or robotic surgery, the gas used during the operation may cause bloating or shoulder pain. That is expected and it eases over the following days and weeks. [2]

Going home

Many of these procedures are same-day. Before you leave you should have your printed discharge instructions, your prescriptions, and your follow-up appointment dates. Your 2 week and 6 week follow-up appointments were scheduled on the same day your procedure was scheduled, and they are in the blue folder you were given after your consult. [2]

Do not drive yourself. [1] Do not sign anything important or make decisions today. Anesthesia lingers longer than it feels like it does.

For whoever came with you

Bring something to do and a phone charger. Ask the desk how you will be updated and where you should wait. When she wakes up she will be repetitive and may not remember the conversation you have in recovery, so if there is something she needs to know, write it down for later.

Your most useful job starts at home: the 24 hours of staying with her that the instructions ask for, and picking up the prescriptions before you get her home rather than after. [1]