Preparing for Surgery: What You Need To Know

It’s natural to feel nervous as your surgery date nears. But the more you know about what to expect and how to prepare, the better you’ll feel.

Fasting

Every patient is asked to fast before surgery. You’ll do this to ensure your stomach muscles stay relaxed during the procedure, you don’t regurgitate during anesthesia and potentially inhale your stomach contents into your lungs. You should avoid solid food eight hours beforehand. For surgeries scheduled in the morning, the shorthand rule is to stop eating at midnight.

However, up to two hours before surgery, you can continue to have clear liquids, including:

• Water
• Black coffee
• Gatorade

You’ll want to avoid all bright red drinks. If you vomit, you don’t want your nurses to mistakenly think that it’s blood.

Red drinks aside, you should stay hydrated before surgery. It’s best to keep drinking fluids when you can, especially if your surgery is in the afternoon. Continuing to drink water as you normally would or even a bit more will also help you avoid possible constipation issues later.

Halting Medication

In your pre-surgery appointment, your team will tell you what medications you can take before the surgery. They’ll also tell you which ones to stop taking before and after surgery. In general, you’ll stop taking:

• Vitamins seven days before surgery.
• Blood thinners two to five days before surgery.
• Diabetes medications vary, some are stopped two days before, and some are skipped the morning of surgery.
• GLP-1s a week before surgery. This medication can be resumed once your appetite returns.

With all medications, your surgeon may have more specific directions, so follow the guidance that they provide.

Skin Preparation

Part of surgery is preparing your skin. The night before your surgery, you need to shower, ideally with chlorhexidine or a similar bacteria-targeting cleanser. You’ll also want to wash your sheets so that after you shower, you’re sleeping on clean bedding. You’ll also want to avoid having any pets in your bed that night to help reduce infection risk. The morning before your surgery, you should shower again.

Meal Prep

Most people are too sore and lethargic to cook a meal in the days after surgery. Instead, you should prepare and freeze a few meals to have on hand.

Driving

You cannot drive yourself home after surgery. Nor should you hire a ride-share service to take you home; if you have a bad reaction to the anesthesia, your driver might not know what to do. A rideshare driver also can’t help you from the car to your bed.

Instead, it’s best to have a partner, family member, friend or coworker drive you home and stay with you for the first 24 hours. Should you have any complications, your friend or loved one can call the hospital and make sure you take the proper next steps.

Packing a Hospital Bag

To stay comfortable during your hospital stay, pack a bag of comfort items. But don’t put off packing this the morning before your surgery. At the latest, pack the night before, and include:

• Phone and charger
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Pajamas if you like. Some people like to have pajama shorts or bottoms to wear with their hospital gown. However, only bring pajamas that you don’t mind getting blood on. The area around your incision may bleed a bit, especially right after surgery.
• A robe

Talking to Your Employer

Inform your immediate supervisor that you’re having surgery and what the anticipated recovery time might be. Your next step might be to talk to HR as well. After those conversations, you’ll know if you need Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or short-term disability paperwork to be filled out at the hospital.

Equipment

Depending on what type of surgery you have, you may need a few pieces of equipment afterward, such as a rolling walker or a raised toilet seat with handles. Ask your surgical team ahead of time if you need any equipment so that you can have it ready for your post-surgery recovery.

If you have any other questions before or after your surgery, you can always call your hospital to get the information you need.