What to bring to your appointment:

  • ID
  • Insurance Information
  • Any x-rays or MRI’s performed by outside providers. Please bring films and reports.
  • List of all your current medications

Preparing for Surgery

HOW SHOULD I GET PREPARED FOR UPCOMING SURGERY?
Our team is committed to making your surgery experience as pleasant as possible.

The process to surgery:

  • Once you have decided on surgery and after talking with Dr. Miskovsky and discussing risks, benefits and alternatives you will be referred to Laura Samblero to discuss options of scheduling a surgery date.
  • Depending on your age and your health conditions, you may have to get blood work, a chest x-ray, and/or EKG. Medical clearance from your primary care physician or family physician may be required. Patients are medically cleared for surgery when their health conditions are stabilized, under appropriate control and appear to pose minimal risk of deteriorating under the stress of surgery. Our staff can help you determine what is needed for the type of procedure and type of anesthesia to be performed.

Preparing for surgery:

  • Most important thing that you can do before surgery is to keep yourself healthy.
  • If you are a smoker, stop. Smoking can be especially detrimental to proper bone healing and pose an unnecessary risk to a healthy recovery. Be sure to maintain a healthy diet and get plenty of rest.

The night before surgery:

  • You should not eat, drink or chew anything after midnight the night before surgery. If you are having surgery on Wednesday, then no eating, drinking or chewing after 11:59pm Tuesday night. You may take blood pressure medications with barely a sip of water on the morning of surgery. If you have questions as to what medications can be taken the morning of surgery, please do not hesitate to ask. To have anesthesia, your stomach has to be empty so that the risk of stomach contents refluxing or leaking into the lungs is minimal.

Surgery Day:

  • Please arrive at your assigned time and check-in with the receptionist. Be sure to bring a list of all of your medications and treating physicians. Once checked in, you will be brought back to the pre-operative holding area where you will meet members of your surgical team. You may have a family member or friend present to keep you company during your preparation. Here you will change out of your street clothes, have your medical record reviewed, meet with a member of the anesthesia team and have an IV catheter placed in your arm. Once your operating room is ready, you will be moved by gurney to the operating room and your companion will be asked to wait in the waiting room.

After Surgery:

  • Once the procedure is complete you will be taken to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit where you will be monitored to ensure that you recover from anesthesia safely. A member of the surgical team will go to the waiting room to inform your family or significant other that you are out of surgery.
  • If you had an outpatient procedure, you will be discharged from here. If you will be spending the night in the hospital, then once recovered you will be transferred to an inpatient floor.

Returning Home:

  • Try to arrange to stay on one floor as much as possible (i.e. bathroom and sleeping area on one floor so that you do not have to go up and down the stairs often)
  • If you do have to climb stairs and are having surgery on your leg, be prepared to do so going backwards and resting your buttock on the stair and push up with normal leg.
  • If you are having arm or shoulder surgery, it is helpful if you have a recliner to sleep in initially after surgery as that is a more comfortable position for the arm. If you do not have a recliner, then set up several pillows on your bed to allow you to sleep in a reclined position and keep your arm elevated in front of you.
  • Try to have pre-prepared meals for a couple of days following surgery because you likely won’t feel like cooking. It is likely that your appetite will be less than normal and heavy, high fat foods may cause you to have an upset stomach following surgery.

The recovery:

  • If you had a leg procedure, you will likely have limitations for weight bearing. Weight bearing is the amount of body weight you are allowed to put on the cast, splint or boot. It is very important to a healthy recovery that you follow the weight-bearing recommendations.
  • If you are non-weight bearing after surgery, then consider your ability to use crutches. Walkers can also be used but only for short distances since hopping around is not recommended and can lead to injury. Our office can write a prescription to rent a wheelchair or rent a knee walker (pictured below, where you place weight on your knee instead of your foot). Generally, these devices can be obtained at a medical supply store near you. Let us know if you will need a  bedside commode or shower chair. Health insurance for this type of equipment varies by insurance carriers.

Patient Resources

Additional considerations:

Some patients may need to go to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) after surgery due to their medical conditions, surgery type and home situation (i.e. lots of stairs can be difficult if someone cannot place weight on the operated leg). In these cases, patients generally have to stay in the hospital 2-3 days after surgery and are also evaluated by physical therapy and social work for skilled nursing facility placement. The social worker can speak with you while you are in the hospital about the locations of SNF’s close to home and available for you given your insurance plan.

Prepare your family, friends and significant others.

You will not be able to drive home after surgery and so you need to make sure that you have a ride arranged. Also, you may have to have someone drive you to appointments after surgery or to work for several weeks after surgery. It would be nice to have someone or a rotating group of people stay with you the first few days after surgery at least to help you.