No Pre-op appointment????

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Originally Posted by sleepinangel How do u get your last minutes questions answered??

Hystersisters.com!!!! LOL. Saved my life!!

Dear Dragonfly

I guess all doctors and hospitals have their own routine. My surgery is scheduled for August 7. My pre-op appointment is scheduled for July 26th. It is my understanding that at this appointment, the doctor will explain the surgical procedure that she has chosen, she or her nurse will advice me of the risks involved, what I should expect as far as hospital stay and recuperation time. It is at this appointment that I will sign my informed consent papers for the surgery. I will also be given all my pre-op instructions as far as bowel prep, when to stop eating and drinking, and will watch an instructional video on the surgical procedure which will be used.
Unless you have already discussed all this with your doctor, or you still have questions, I would call the office and insist on being given an appointment. You might do just as well without a specific appointment to take care of this but you are the patient, you are paying them for their time, skill and services. You have a right to know what will happen, when and why. Just my opinion. Hope it helps. maggie

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Originally Posted by dragonfly68 Does this sound "normal" to any of you? I am scheduled for surgery on August 1. I called the surgical coordinator about 2 weeks ago and left a message. She never called me back. I called again last week and spoke to someone who schedules appointments and told her about my surgery and she put me on hold, came back on the line and said no I didn't need a pre-op appt but I did need to come in and sign papers and that the surgical coordinator would call me to set up a time to do that. For some reason this just didn't sound right to me (no bloodwork is needed???? I've never had surgery without having bloodwork done) so I called once again on Monday morning and left yet another message on the surgical coordinator's voice mail telling her when my surgery is and trying to verify once again if I really didn't need a pre-op appt. It's now Wednesday late afternoon and she has yet to return my call once again. The hospital called me to pre-register me for admission so I know the surgery is scheduled. Did any of you not have a pre-op appt? I saw my doc back in June and that was when he recommened the hysterectomy. Is it because he just saw me that he doesn't need to see me again? I just feel like I'm being so left out of the loop--I mean after all, this IS my body he's doing major surgery on. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

The Dr. office gave me my orders to go get bloodwork, Ekg, & chest x-ray. I didn't meet with anyone at the hospital. The pre op nurse called me the day before surgery & told me what time to be there, no jewelry, who'd be with me, etc.

mshowdy

Dragonfly-

My surgery is scheduled for next Thursday and I don't have a pre-op appointment either. However, my surgery is at 2:00 and they want me at the hospital at 12:00, so I am assuming whatever they need to do they'll do before the surgery.

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess I'm so frustrated because I have called and no one bothers to return my call! I also have ulcerative interstitial cystitis and am on medication for that--which my GYN knows about. My urologist--who knows about my upcoming surgery--told me I have to stop my Elmiron 1 week before surgery because it is a mild blood thinner. Now, if I wouldn't have seen my urologist a few weeks ago, I would have not known to stop that medication. What could have been that outcome??? Surgery cancelled?? Excessive bleeding during and after surgery??? It makes sense to be at the hospital earlier before your surgery to have bloodwork done. All of my surgeries have been outpatient so I had to have bloodwork done at least 5 days prior to. As far as an explanation from my doc, he simply told me in June when he recommended the surgery that he would do it vaginally, remove a cyst from my ovary if possible, look around and clean up anything else in there (possible endo), leave the ovaries if possible, and that was about it. He did say I should feel "back to normal" by week 3 and to expect to feel mainly fatigue rather than pain. Am I missing anything else?

With all my surgeries, which is quiet a few, I had 2 pre-op's one with the Doc and the other at the hospital. My surgery is today, I went yesterday to see my Doc. If you have to call after hours, explain to him why you had to call after hours, he may not even know what is going on, make sure you tell him how many times you called her and left messages, she's obviously not doing her job, she could atleast call you back no matter what, thats her job!!! I've called the office almost twice a week since I found out I had to have surgery and had no problems, but I rarely have a problem with that office staff.

Good luck, be persistant, this is your body thats having something done to it, it's your right to have whatever questions you have answered!!!

No pre-op here and my surgery is Monday. They told me to come in 2 hours early, so that's the plan.

No bowel prep either, just an enema. Who knew that I could be so happy about having an enema?

Well the surgical coordinator finally called me yesterday--only after realizing that my insurance company requested a sonogram and she hadn't gotten the report back from it. I never received the packet of info she mailed out nearly a month ago that contained the order for the sono. So yesterday was a mad dash to the radiologist and then to her office to sign all consent papers and receive discharge info as well as paperwork for bloodwork. Now we're just waiting for my doc to receive the report back on the sono and see if the insurance wants a biopsy prior to surgery. I sure hope not! I also learned my doc is taking my uterus and cervix and will look at my tubes and ovaries and decide at that point if they need to go as well. As for bowel prep, I get to choose between a bottle of magnesium citrate or 2 enemas--not a tough one to pick since I'd have to be on a clear liquid diet if I picked the mag citrate! My surgery is at 10:00 am and have to be at the castle at 8:00. At least I finally know what's going on now! Thanks everyone.

Yay Dragonfly! It does help to just know what's going on! My pre op is the day before "our surgery date" but I have called the office and talked to doc's nurse several times. She is always willing to answer my questions and that's helped a lot. 12 days and counting!

Is it crazy for us to be excited about this??? I absolutely can't wait. I just finished my last period ever--thank God!