Preparing For Surgery

You’ve decided to have surgery! Making this decision is a huge step in your health journey, and you should be proud.

The key to feeling confident and prepared is to know as much as possible about what to expect. The guidelines below should help you to feel like you’re prepared before and after surgery.

The week before surgery is a good time to start preparing your home to be comfortable for you after surgery. Things that are nice to have on hand include a thermometer, heating pad, ice packs, and possibly an abdominal binder. Most people don’t have an abdominal binder lying around – you can purchase a maternity belly band, or just use a blanket or shawl.

Pick up your after-surgery prescriptions so that they are ready to go. I always make sure to prescribe them in advance so there is no running around the day of surgery.

We will review which medications you take to stop and which to continue, during your preoperative appointment. In general, however, it’s ideal to minimize the use of aspirin or ibuprofen the week before surgery. If you take medications like blood thinner, we will discuss this in detail in advance.

The week before surgery, you don’t have to make any dramatic changes to your diet, but continue eating healthfully. Some women who struggle with constipation will start taking a stool softener/laxative a few days before surgery (constipation only gets worse after surgery!) just to get things moving.

You will need a driver the day of surgery and someone to stay with you the night of surgery. 

Once you are checked in at the hospital or surgery center, you will meet your nurse and get an IV. Your anesthesiologist will meet you and you can ask them any questions you have about anesthesia.

Once the room is ready, you will be taken to the operating room. I will be right there with you as the anesthesiologist puts you to sleep. 

Once the surgery is done, I will call your designated contact to give them an update on how you are doing. You will be moved to a recovery room where a nurse will monitor your progress. You will probably be in the recovery room for 4-8 hours, depending on what you need.

My goal is for you to go home on the same day, so you can recover in the comfort of your home. If it is not medically safe for you to go home, we will keep your overnight as needed.

Expect a call from me 1-2 days after surgery to check in on you and make sure your recovery is going well!

Most surgeries require 4-6 weeks of recovery time. Depending on the surgery and how you are feeling, some women can return to desk work as early as 3 weeks after surgery.

I want you to be as well-informed about recovery as possible before surgery. Read through my guidelines below and feel free to ask me any questions that come to mind. 

Learn more about what to expect and how to manage your surgical recovery.