Pre-OP! What to expect?

Hello All,
I am new to this site but very excited about all the wonderful info I have found here. I just found out this week that I will be having a TVH with a bladder tack. I'm not sure what that is or what it entails. My surgery is scheduled for the first week in Sept. I honestly believe the waiting is going to be the worst. My question: What exactly is involved during the pre-op and how long will it take? I am sure that later on I will have a ton of questions, but right now I think I am still in a little bit of shock over the whole thing.

I go for mine in a couple weeks, but from what I understand, it is one last meeting with my Dr to go over last minute "stuff" - she's scheduled me for an hour. After that I go for blood test and meet with the anesthesiologist (sp!). Some LIWs get an EKG - I don't know if I need one or not. I think it is relatively simple and the only poking they do is for the blood test. You shouldn't need any more than a couple/few hours. But take the rest of the day off and treat yourself to something!

It varies, depending on the doctor and hospital. I had a short pre-op with my doctor to go over final questions and consent forms. No exam. I also had a hospital pre-op, where they took my blood, had me fill out more consent forms, gave me supplies and instructions for a betadine shower, a betadine douche, and enema. The hospital pre-op set me up as an express patient so that when I walked into the hospital for my surgery I just had to give my name and they took me straight up to my room.
Some doctors require you to drink some cleansing stuff. Some don't require enemas or douches and such. Some may have more lab work, etc done on you.
It is pretty straightforward, and it generally makes you relax a bit because you get a better sense of what to expect.
If you are at all nervous about anesthesia, you might also want to talk to your anesthesiologist too, ahead of time.

Just had my pre-ops on Wed. and they were pretty uneventful. Had to go to the hospital to fill out some paperwork and do anest. checklist - nurse went over those with me when I was done with the admitting forms. After that I went to my GYN. I signed consent forms and we discussed one more time what he was going to take out. I asked some questions about DVT prevention so that will all be lined up before I get there. I also wanted to know what kind of incision I was going to have - said he would decide when he gets started but looks like I'll get a vertical since my fibroids are up near my bellybutton now. I expected that this would be when my nerves would really kick in, but so far I'll feeling pretty calm!

Thanks all for the info. I'm actually not to nervous right now. My DH on the otherhand is a basket case. I have a follow-up on Wed. to evaluate for the Bladder repair and hope I can get some answers to a lot of my questions then. I'm going to take the advice of a lot of the women here and start writing down my questions now.

my pre-op consisted of going to the hospital (1 week pre-op) and giving a blood sample for a CBC and pregnancy test..then i met briefly with a nurse to discuss my surgery and for her to answer any questions i had...i didnt see my dr again until right before surgery as the nurse anesthesist was giving me some meds to relax me right before taking me to surgery....each dr is different so you might find yourself doing more or less then everyone else on here.......dont worry about it, theres nothing invasive about it.....stay well......*diana*---fellow VA'ian.

Hello, I had the same procedure as you in May. My surgery was on a Monday and the pre-op was on Friday at the hospital. They took down all my insurance info. and I signed consents. I had my blood drawn, chest x-rayed, an EKG and was given a betadine douche and a yucky tasting drink which I had to take on Sunday and not eat anything all day after that. The anesthesiologist called me on Sunday night and asked me if I had any questions. If you have any other questions regarding post-op let me know. I had to have a catheter in for 10 days and the system the doctor use was called a supra-pubic catheter. So, let me know and I will help in any way I can!!

Hi there--welcome! I had a pre op on Wed. at the hospital. My surger is this Tues. (8/5) I met with the surgical coordinater. She went thru my stay at the hospital pretty much step by step. She confirmed what was being done, asked about special needs-diet etc., had me fill out some forms. Then I had blood and urine tests at the lab. Then today I had to have another pre op with my MD and she just checked me over and made sure I didn't have a cold or anything like that and now I have a green light! I hope the best for you!
Mary

Poohbear--

Take your DH to your pre-op. Mine was really glad he did. He got to (1) meet my GYN and (2) ask questions, including stuff I did not realize was worrying him.

FYI, my pre-op did not consist of an exam other than listening to heart/lungs, etc. It was my opportunity to ask questions, and I did, lots of them. At the end, I signed all the consent forms and got my day-before-surgery instructions.