Preparing for Your Surgery or Procedure

Getting Ready for Surgery

Insurance

Insurance companies differ in their requirements for surgery authorization. Please contact your insurance company to notify them of your upcoming surgery and ask how to best proceed in obtaining authorization. If you require any assistance, please call (773) 702-6000 for information about inpatient surgery or (773) 702-3384 for information about outpatient surgery.

Pre-Surgical Appointments

Be sure to go to any pre-surgery appointments your surgeon sets up for you. If you fail to show up for these appointments, your surgery may be cancelled.

Pain Management

Before your surgery, be sure to discuss with your surgeon how any pain you may experience as a result of your surgery will be controlled.

Creating an Advance Directive

You have the right to make informed decisions about your healthcare, including the right to refuse treatment offered to you. You may also give directions, in advance, about your wishes for healthcare should the time come when you cannot communicate your wishes to others.

If you have an advance directive, such as a living will or durable power of attorney for healthcare, please it with you at the time of surgery. If you do not have an advance directive and wish to create one, please call Social Work and Pastoral Care at (773) 702-6243 in advance and ask them for help.

Important Pre-Surgery Instructions

Before your surgery, your surgeon will give you instructions concerning food and liquids. It is very important that you follow these directions, so the surgery or procedure may proceed as planned.

Do not drink alcoholic beverages 24 hours prior to surgery. It is never a good idea to smoke, but it is especially important that you do not smoke after midnight prior to having surgery. Smoking can cause gastric secretions that interfere with the anesthetic you take to go to sleep during surgery. It is also a good idea not to smoke after surgery as it can impede healing. It is never a good idea to take illegal drugs, but it is vitally important not to take them within 24 hours of your surgery.

Several weeks before your surgery, ask your surgeon if you should stop taking:

• Medications that contain aspirin, Advil, Motrin, Aleve, ibuprofen
• Anticoagulants such as Coumadin, Plavix, Lovenox, and Heparin
• Allergy medications
• Herbs and vitamins
• Birth control pills

Here are some other pre-surgery instructions you need to follow:

• Bring a written list of the medications you are taking, as well as the dosages and frequency with which you take these medications.
• Shower or bathe no more than 12 hours prior to your surgery using an antimicrobial soap.
• If possible, obtain prescriptions for post-operative medications before surgery, have them filled, and begin taking them as soon you get home.
• If you are having outpatient surgery, ask your surgeon's office whether you should make your postoperative appointments before your surgery or right after your surgery.
• If you are being admitted to the hospital after surgery, make your postoperative appointments at the time you are discharged.
• If you develop a cold, fever, or other illness prior to your procedure, contact your surgeon's office. Your surgery may need to be rescheduled.
• Arrange to have a responsible adult accompany you the day of surgery, remain in the hospital during your surgery, and, if you are an outpatient, take you home after your surgery. If you are an inpatient, arrange to have a responsible adult take you home when you are discharged.
• Have the responsible adult who accompanies you hold on to your eyeglasses, dentures, hearing aid, and/or jewelry while you are in surgery.

Be patient in the event of an emergency. To assist those in imminent danger and immediate need, we may need to delay or even cancel your surgery. In such an event, we will appreciate your understanding.

When You Come for Surgery

Parking

Valet parking is highly recommended. If you are having surgery at the Hospitals, you may leave your car with the attendant at the Maryland Avenue entrance from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Cars are delivered up to 9:00 p.m.

If you are having surgery at the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine (DCAM), you may leave your car with the attendant on the circle drive in front of the DCAM at 5758 S. Maryland from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Cars are delivered up to 9:00 p.m.

Please do NOT tip the parking attendant as this is against Hospitals policy.

If you choose to self-park, you may do so by entering the garage on Maryland Avenue one-half block north of 59th Street or on 58th Street one-half block east of Cottage Grove Avenue, directly across the street from main entrance to the DCAM. Self-parking is available 24 hours a day. Finding a parking space in the garage may prove difficult.

Entering the Hospitals or DCAM

Adult patients should enter the Hospitals through the Bernard A. Mitchell Hospital entrance on Maryland Avenue (the closest entrance to 58th Street). Mitchell Hospital's doors are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Take the elevator from the ground level up to the lobby on the second floor. If you self-park in the garage, you may walk through the enclosed pedestrian bridge which links the garage "bridge level" floor to the second floor of Mitchell Hospital.

NOTE: The walk from the Hospitals entrance to the surgery check-in point is more than 1/4 mile. For wheelchair assistance, ask the valet attendant.

Adult patients should enter the DCAM through the main entrances on 58th Street by the circle driveway. A curbside attendant can provide a wheelchair if you need one. If you park in the garage, you may prefer to walk through the enclosed pedestrian bridge, which links the "bridge level" of the garage with the second floor of the DCAM.

Checking in at the Hospitals or DCAM

For pre-surgical admission, please stop at the Information Desk at the Bernard Mitchell entrance for directions to Admission Services or the Surgery Waiting Room. You will need to register at Admission Services (room TS-200), located off the second floor lobby, or in the Surgery Waiting Room (P-211).

On the day of surgery at the DCAM, please go directly to 2C. The DCAM 2C waiting room is open Monday to Friday, from 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Family Waiting Areas

While you are having surgery, family members may wait in lounge areas. If you are in the General Operating Room in the Hospitals, they may wait in the Surgery Waiting Room (P-211). If you are in the DCAM surgical unit, they may wait in the 2C lounge.

Ask your family to tell the attendant in the waiting area where they will be waiting, so the surgeon or nurse can give them information on your status after your surgery. If your family leaves the area, it is best that they let the attendant know when they will be coming back.

Food and drink are not allowed in the waiting areas. Your family can ask the receptionist for the nearest locations of snack bars and cafeterias.

Privacy Issues

Because of new laws to protect patient privacy, staff at the Hospitals cannot release any information about you to your family and friends without your permission. When you are being admitted for surgery, a staff member will write down your access code on a blue, business-size card. Give this access code to the people you want to be able to obtain information about you. Family members who have your access code and are waiting in one of our waiting areas will be given information in person as soon as possible; and they may, if they wish, telephone family members outside the Hospitals. Staff cannot give patient information over the telephone until you are in your hospital room.

After Your Surgery or Procedure

Your surgeon will provide you with instructions to follow at home. Please follow them carefully to assure a smooth recovery. Here are some general guidelines:

• Never drive an automobile, operate dangerous machinery, or undertake any responsible business matters on the same day as your surgery or procedure.
• You will be able to shower but not bathe. If you have drains or open wounds, you may need to take sponge baths initially.
• You should avoid any heavy lifting. Your surgeon's office can provide a weight limit.
• You will be assigned exercises designed to speed your recovery.

Notify your surgeon's office immediately if you experience any bleeding or drainage from the operative site, have unusual redness or pain, or start running a temperature higher than 101°. Be on the lookout for other "danger signals" to which your surgeon may alert you.

Your surgeon or nurse will schedule a return visit to the outpatient clinic for you, so they can check your progress after surgery and confirm that you are healing well. Arrange to have a responsible adult escort you to your first post-op visit.

More Information

• Preparing for Your Appointment
• Preparing for Your Surgery or Procedure
• Preparing for Your Hospital Stay
• Patient Meals
• Things to Consider
• Resources for Your Visit