Should I fess up on my head cold pre..op?

[CarmelKiwi 6]

Need advice. I have By pass surgery scheduled for tues...Waited for this day for several years. I now have a head cold...Will it mean my surgery gets postponed??? I have everything ready including vacation time, pets taken care of, no food in the house, mentally ready...I REALLY don't want to have it rescheduled. Do I fess up??

[briefs199 337]

I would call now just to make sure. It could resolve by Tuesday.

[roundisashape 712]

You're living my current greatest fear! I'd fess up for safety, but I REALLY hope you're better posthaste!!

[BitterSweet* 835]

Unless you have a fever, pneumonia or bronchitis, it won't really matter. You do need to let them know the day of surgery and it would best to phrase it as, "I'm getting over a cold" instead of "I have a cold." Sick people have surgery all of the time, and if you give them a reason to cancel you, they may just do so. If you're not febrile and you don't have chest / lung involvement, I wouldn't mention it until the day of surgery.

If your head cold turns into a chest cold, that's a different story. That would increase your anesthesia risks and coughing spells on new incisions and a cut tummy will suck. I hope you feel better soon and hood luck with surgery if you proceed.

[mom of 2 poodles 19]

I too have this worry.

I go in for my pre-op stuffs on Monday 11/10 and I have been fighting a throat/sinus thing which is settling in my chest a bit. I am not scheduled for surgery until the 11/20, so I hope they see there is time for everything to be resolved... but as part of my pre-op testing I see the anesthesiologist and get a chest x-ray (and other things) so I hope he/she will not nix the surgery that is to happen 10 days after that visit.

I am only to have a 3 day pre-op liquid diet and I am very grateful.

[cdenney123 103]

I was fighting a cold before my surgery and they knew it because when I did blood work my White blood cells were high which tells them my body was fighting something off. It lasted a week and then i was tested again and was cleared for surgery, but if they did not go down I was going to have to reschudele per my dr. Good luck and feel better

[ElyQuint 446]

Surgery is not a game. Tell your doctor. He is the only one qualified to make the decision. If you don't trust their judgment you should reconsider the whole thing!