Today was my preoperative examination and check-in before my hip arthroscopy.
The purpose of any pre-op exam is to evaluate a patient’s readiness for anesthesia and surgery through a battery of tests, and mine was no exception.
The first stop: the office of the internist, which required me to fill out a long medical history questionnaire, then conducted a short exam that included body temperature, weight, height, blood pressure, pulse, and an “oxygen saturation” test, which measures blood oxygen level. (They used a small clip that fit around my thumb for that one.) The internist declared me fit as a fiddle (no, she didn’t really say that! ) and told me what I should and shouldn’t do before my surgery. ( I’m to stay away from Vitamin E and anti-inflammatory products like aspirin, naproxen and ibuprofen, because they act as blood thinners and could cause bleeding. Oh, and no Mexican food the night before.)
I then head down to the pre-op check-in floor, where I had to fill out even more paperwork about medical history, insurance and contact information. I even got to watch what looked like my hospital bracelet being made. (Can’t wear it yet!) The woman who took down all that information seemed a bit confused by the fact that I didn’t have a middle name. (Gee thanks, mom!)
Next stop: a meeting with my own personal nurse (at least for the next 40 minutes or so). At this point, it’s been two hours since I first stepped foot in the hospital, and I am mucho hungry. My nurse brings me a turkey sandwich and some juice before scattering electrodes all over my body and stealing my blood. The electrocardiogram, or EKG, is done to test how well your heart is functioning by measuring the electrical signals from your heart, i.e., your heart beat. Apparently my heart is functioning quite nicely. (But with the air-conditioning on full blast, I can’t stop shivering, which causes my test results to come out blurry at first.) Two vials of blood are taken to determine, among other things, complete blood count, or CBC, and to check for chemicals in my blood like potassium and glucose.
Final stop: radiology. There, I am given a chest X-ray to make sure I don’t have a lung infection like pneumonia, or congestive heart failure.
I am finally done, after more than three hours, but can’t seem to find the exit to leave. I ask a kind orderly to direct me to the way out, and he jokes, “You want to leave already?”
To which I reply: “I’ll be back … in four days!”
Thanks, June!
Quite an involved process, but at least you got a turkey sandwich out of it. I’m thinking of you in your final countdown.
Thanks so much for reading my blog, Armando, and for your offer of help. (I might take you up on it!) Mine is also at HSS, with Dr. Struan Coleman. My goal is to get back to running and my old active life. I hope that you’ve been able to return to your activities since the surgery.
Good luck on your surgery. I am 6 months post-op for the same thing. Had mine done at HSS in January of this year. If you need anything or are curious about the road to recovery, what to expect, etc, feel free to contact me, I’d be more than happy to share my experience.