TLH: Pre-op is Monday

Any tips from your pre-op appt. today? Mine is tomorrow.

He just told me that it's kind of a formality and my opportunity to ask questions and get answers and voice any concerns I had and to give me the total rundown of my surgery. They do a more comprehensive exam prior to my surgery at the hospital. I took my aunt with me to help me remember questions to ask ( I seem to get brain block as soon as I walk in the office LOL) and for moral support. If you are going alone I would suggest writing your questions down or even taking a notebook to write any pertinent information you get from your doctor (for example I don't remember the name of the medication they are using to prevent adhesions but I didn't have anything to write the name down on ) Just make sure you have your questions answered-it helps ease a lot of worries and if you don't understand something, ask until you do. I hope this helped at least a little bit. Best of luck to you tomorrow! Let us know how your appointment goes!

Hi Shy32 - my surgery was friday and I did the same thing with cleaning my house. I did obsessive amounts of laundry, every sheet and blanket on every bed, not just mine. Every towel had to be washed, everything...It reminded me of when I was nesting for the babies. I think it just helped me keep my mind off things and my anxiety. I couldn't sit at the computer and do much, but boy could I clean. Interestingly, I wasn't at all nervous or anxious when I got to the hospital. I just wanted it over with. Everyone was so nice to both me and my sister who went with me. Best of luck to you.

Hi - bring a notebook and listen carefully, write down questions ahead of time. Most of mine were answered by the time the doctor was done talking, but I had a few extra. I wish I had someone with me, I think I missed a few things. The part that overwhelmed me were the three things I didn't realize; you have to go get bloodwork, buy a special pre-op soap for cleaning and a laxative. And there are special instructions for all of these. Listen carefully to these instructions, b/c when the hospital nurses called me the day before my surgery, what they said was slightly different than what my doctor said. Ultimately, I did what my doc recommended, but tweaked based on what the nurses said and what I learned from this site. This is mostly regarding the laxative stuff, I decided to do more fasting/clear liquid diet than my doc recommended and I think it really helped overall. Best of luck to you.