Tell me about your preop appt experience

[B.Annie 290]

I'm having my preop appointment on Tuesday and I'm just wondering what to expect. What questions did you ask that you hadn't had answered beforehand? Did you do any hospital tours? What was a surprise at the appoitment?

Im curious to see your experience! My surgery is scheduled for May 26th and I haven't seen my surgeon since my consult in Feb. I'm so excitedly to go in that my mind is going blank.

[Savagegirl 97]

Is this the hospital pre-op? Mine was. I just got registered, met with a woman who had me sign papers, they did a blood test, and she gave me bottles of body wash to use the night before and day of surgery. She told me where to come the following week. Pretty easy!

[B.Annie 290]

36 minutes ago, Savagegirl said:

Is this the hospital pre-op? Mine was. I just got registered, met with a woman who had me sign papers, they did a blood test, and she gave me bottles of body wash to use the night before and day of surgery. She told me where to come the following week. Pretty easy!

I'm not sure what my appointment will include. I was scheduled a surgery date of May 26 and preop appointment for this Tuesday. I live an hour and a half away from my surgeon and only met him once so I don't know what hospital it's going going to be at or much of anything else. I do know about my preop diet because my NUT gave me those instructions when I met with her 6 weeks ago.

Just not sure what to expect and I have to bring 2 of my kids with me so was hoping to get an idea. I'm going to try calling the office staff tomorrow to discuss but unfortunately they're a very small office and don't answer their phones much.

[blev 58]

Hi B Annie my surgery is May 25, and today I have to meet at my surgeons office for a education class and then meet with my actual surgeon after that for any last minute questions - he is sooooo nice then I go next door to the hospital to register, blood work, and ekg,

[AstroGuy 54]

My surgery is Friday!!!!

I had several pre-ops.

The first was with the surgeon. We discuss exactly what was going to go on. He wanted to make sure he understood what was going to happen from my perspective. I then asked several questions. I had a list on my phone.

1. Gall bladder removal? 25% of people have to go back for follow up procedures. The largest cause is gall bladder removal. I asked if he planned on removal. He said unless I had a history of gall stones he did not plan removal it but would put me on a med for gall stones for six months to prevent that. I was good with the answer.
2. Would I be intubated and would I wake up intubated? Yes and no, not normally. Unless there was a problem I would wake up with a scratchy throat but no tube.
3. Cathator tube. I will have a cathator for the day of and night of the surgery. I will also need a drainage tube that will drain from you midsection.
4. What did he see as my final weight. Because the weight is in my belly he expected that the final weight loss would be around 80% of excess weight or about 165 to 170 ish. I said surgeons would fight to have me cause there is a huge chance of success and little risk on the surgery.
5. I asked him how he knew how much stomach to remove and where to put the bypass onto the intestine. He was very specific on that answer which beyond typing in a note!! The important thing is had wasn't guessing or using experience. He had specific distance and landmarks.
6. I am having an awful time this year with seasonal allergies and I wanted to make sure there weren't any concerns. There is not.

At that appointment I also spoke to the dietician about the first to weeks post surgery.

I also had an "appointment" with the surgical nurse to get a history on me (allergies, meds, etc).

I then had an in-face appointment with anesthesia doc. He did a history and talked about what would happen (I made sure he knew I wanted lots of happy meds prior). We also talked about pre-surgery antiseptic wipe down. This was new for me, and I have had several surgeries. Shower night before, wipe down, clean sheets, then a wipe down at hospital.

Ready to go!

[B.Annie 290]

1 hour ago, AstroGuy said:

My surgery is Friday!!!!

I had several pre-ops.

The first was with the surgeon. We discuss exactly what was going to go on. He wanted to make sure he understood what was going to happen from my perspective. I then asked several questions. I had a list on my phone.

1. Gall bladder removal? 25% of people have to go back for follow up procedures. The largest cause is gall bladder removal. I asked if he planned on removal. He said unless I had a history of gall stones he did not plan removal it but would put me on a med for gall stones for six months to prevent that. I was good with the answer.
2. Would I be intubated and would I wake up intubated? Yes and no, not normally. Unless there was a problem I would wake up with a scratchy throat but no tube.
3. Cathator tube. I will have a cathator for the day of and night of the surgery. I will also need a drainage tube that will drain from you midsection.
4. What did he see as my final weight. Because the weight is in my belly he expected that the final weight loss would be around 80% of excess weight or about 165 to 170 ish. I said surgeons would fight to have me cause there is a huge chance of success and little risk on the surgery.
5. I asked him how he knew how much stomach to remove and where to put the bypass onto the intestine. He was very specific on that answer which beyond typing in a note!! The important thing is had wasn't guessing or using experience. He had specific distance and landmarks.
6. I am having an awful time this year with seasonal allergies and I wanted to make sure there weren't any concerns. There is not.

At that appointment I also spoke to the dietician about the first to weeks post surgery.

I also had an "appointment" with the surgical nurse to get a history on me (allergies, meds, etc).

I then had an in-face appointment with anesthesia doc. He did a history and talked about what would happen (I made sure he knew I wanted lots of happy meds prior). We also talked about pre-surgery antiseptic wipe down. This was new for me, and I have had several surgeries. Shower night before, wipe down, clean sheets, then a wipe down at hospital.

Ready to go!

Great information! Thank you for sharing. I will add the questions about how much stomach He will remove and if I have To go back down for other preop meetings/appointments. I hope not!

[Ms. Brightside 121]

I had my pre-op at the hospital last week. That consisted of testing (upper GI & EKG; would also normally include blood work, but I had that done previously), pre-registration (with the expectation of payment (or a down payment) for the hospital's services), and a mini-appointment with a pre-op nurse to go over my medical history, etc. There was no hospital tour, nor did I ask for one (what's important to me is the hospital's ratings, not what the room I'll be spending one or two nights in looks like. And, of course, I had already researched that info online).

I have my pre-op with my surgeon this week. I have been told that he will review my test results with me and I will be given the chance to ask any additional questions before surgery next week.

[hmills653 365]

I have a couple of appts. I have a pre op with the nutritionist then one for testing and then one with the surgeon. They said my nutr will be about 2 hrs then I'm not sure about the pre admission testing or surgeon appt.

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[travelergirl 142]

My pre op was at the hospital. Did my admissions paperwork. Met with a nurse who showed me where to check in the morning of surgery. Met with a NP who reviewed my meds and told me what to take and not take before surgery. I also got the hibiclens to use in shower night before and morning of surgery. They also did an EKG. I had labs done in advance and based on those results the NP ordered one more draw. I didn't get a full tour.

I met my surgeon three times. First for the consult. Second for a weigh in and to go over questions. Third time for a weigh in, final decision about which surgery, and then we signed papers and picked our date.

I also had a psych consult, a nutrition consult, a gallbladder ultrasound, a contrast xray and a endoscopy.

My surgeon also requires attendance at a info seminar and a support group.

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[Savagegirl 97]

Let us know how the tour went today.

[B.Annie 290]

SO my preop appt with my surgeon went well. I signed some documents and got a folder full of every bit of information you could ask for from preop to surgery, discharge through post op life. Even a list of recommended and not recommended Protein supplements. They gave me my pre and post op prescriptions and Then they said that I only needed a week of clear liquid preop diet so they moved my surgery day up from the 26th then 24th of this month (next week).

The only thing that I'm disappointed about is that I have to go back down to do the hospital registration and pre-op tests on a different day. It's just one more trip that I didn't want to have to take considering it's an hour and a half away and I have been 6 kids. The office manager did say that even though they don't like to, since my surgery date is a week away they might be able to just do all the testing is the day of surgery and I would just go in a little bit earlier.

Edited May 17, 2017 by B.Annie