Surgery Process

Scheduling Process

Before you are are sched­uled with PASC (Parkway Ambu­la­tory Surgery Center), your sched­uling surgeon has reviewed with you the planned surgical proce­dure and aspects surrounding it.

We encourage that you ask ques­tions regarding the proce­dure so that you are fully informed and are comfort­able proceeding with your surgery.  Discuss your medica­tions if any and details of your general health.

Once sched­uled with PASC, a nurse or physi­cian assis­tant from PASC will contact you the day prior to your sched­uled proce­dure. He or she will ask ques­tions about your health history; any medica­tions you currently take; inquire about drug aller­gies or intol­er­ance, and review basic preop­er­a­tive instruc­tions with you.

Trans­porta­tion: Please make arrange­ments for trans­porta­tion. Upon discharge, taxi /Uber/Lyft trans­porta­tion is allowed only for those patients who are accom­pa­nied by an adult.  Again, if you have any concerns or issues,  please talk with the assigned nurse / physi­cian assis­tant at PASC.

You will be noti­fied about your expected arrival time at PAC.  If you have ques­tions about your trans­porta­tion, direc­tions, etc., please feel free to contact PASC 24/7.

Preparing For Surgery

SPECIAL NOTE ON MEDICATIONS: 

• Medical instruc­tions: Talk with your doctor about your medica­tions well before your surgery. Your doctor may want to stop or change some medica­tions such as blood thin­ners for a short time or may even want you to see another doctor before surgery. Your doctor’s office will give you instruc­tions to follow in the days before surgery. These instruc­tions usually explain whether you need to stop medica­tions or fill new prescrip­tions, when to stop eating and drinking before surgery, and other instruc­tions. Be sure to follow all direc­tions care­fully. If you are confused about anything, call your doctor’s office and ask questions.
• Medica­tion and allergy list: Prepare an up-to-date list of your current medica­tions and any aller­gies and bring it with you on the day of surgery.
• Insulin: Please bring your insulin with you to PASC.
• Sip of Water: You may take your heart, blood pres­sure, breathing or seizure medica­tion the morning of surgery with a sip of water.
• Preventing infec­tion: Your doctor may give you a prescrip­tion for an antibi­otic to take before your surgery to help prevent infec­tion. Be sure to fill any prescrip­tions before surgery and follow direc­tions as prescribed.  Your doctor may also ask you to bathe with antibac­te­rial soap or solution.
• Notify PASC: You must inform the assigned nurse or physi­cian assis­tant at PASC about ALL your medications.

Day Before The Surgery

• DO NOT drink alcohol for 24 hours before and after your surgery.
• Midnight: After the midnight prior to surgery day, DO NOT:
  • eat or drink anything after midnight the night prior to your surgery.  This includes foods, including candy, gum, and breath mints and liquids of all sorts, including water.
  • Smoke or use any tobacco products.
• Fasting: Ask your doctor how long you should go without eating or drinking before your surgery.
• Ques­tions: If you have ques­tions or concerns, please call PASC.

Day of Surgery

Your surgeon and the staff at PAC will do utmost to make your surgery will go smoothly and make your stay at PASC comfort­able and stress free.

On the day of surgery:

• Personal infor­ma­tion: Make sure you bring your photo ID and health insur­ance infor­ma­tion with you on the day of the surgery.
• Brush Teeth: You may brush your teeth and / or rinse your mouth the day of surgery, provided nothing is swallowed.
• Shaving: Do not shave the area where you will have the surgery. If hair needs to be removed from the oper­ating site, your care team will do this on the day of the surgery.
• Cosmetics: Do not wear makeup, deodorant, lotion, or perfume on the day of your surgery.
• Clothing: We strongly suggest that you to wear loose, comfort­able clothing that is easily removed.
• Personal items: Be prepared to remove dentures, hearing aids, glasses, contact lenses, jewelry, and hair acces­sories. Leave them at home if you can. If you must wear them, bring a case to put them in while you have surgery (i.e., for glasses or contact lenses). Leave jewelry at home if you are concerned about losing it.
• Punc­tu­ality: It is most impor­tant that you arrive on time.  Here is a link for direc­tions to our center.
• Once arrived:
  1. You will be asked to complete our admis­sion forms, consent to release information.
  2. A staff member will check you in and take you to a room to prepare you for surgery.
  3. Just before your surgery, you will meet with the anes­the­si­ol­o­gist, surgeon and the attending nurse.  This will be one more oppor­tu­nity for you to ask questions.
  4. A pre-oper­a­tive nurse will begin routine pre-oper­a­tive ques­tions and prepa­ra­tion. For example, you might see a nurse using a surgical check­list or you may be asked more than once to verify what kind of surgery you are having and where on your body the surgery will be done.
  5. You will be asked to remove eye glasses, dentures, hair pins or any other loose objects. If you did not bring a small bag for your valu­ables, one will be provide.
  6. All members of your care team—including your support person or family members—should clean their hands. This can help keep you safe from surgical infec­tions and other complications.

Recovery and Discharge After Surgery

• After the surgery you will be taken to the recovery room. In this room your condi­tion and progress will be  cautiously moni­tored.  An average patient stays in the recovery room for 1–3 hours before they are discharged.  But, please note that the length of time spent in the recovery room will depend upon the type of surgery you had.
• You will not be discharged until you are recov­ered enough and have enough strength to leave the center.
• After your surgery, you will meet your surgeon again who will review your surgery and discuss outcome and further instructions.
• Depending on the type of surgery, family members will be permitted to see you some­time after surgery.  Your surgeon will make the deter­mi­na­tion on the timing.
• The doctor will also let you and your family know if it is neces­sary for someone to observe you the first night post surgery.
• You will be discharged on the day of your surgery.
• When it is time to leave PASC, a staff member will discuss the discharge instruc­tions and make sure to provide you will all the infor­ma­tion about the care you should take when you return home.
• The staff member will also help you get safely into your family’s or friend’s car.  You must be accom­pa­nied with an adult to take you home.  Your safety is our priority, so we will not allow you to leave PASC unaccompanied.

Days After Surgery

The first few days after your surgery are very impor­tant to your healing.  You MUST follow your discharge instruc­tions of your surgeon.  If you have any ques­tions, feel free to call your surgeon’s office or PASC.

Here are a few general guidelines:

• Take all of your medica­tions as directed and use the pain relievers prescribed by your surgeon.
• If you are taking narcotic pain medica­tion, do not drive or operate machinery. Your deci­sion-making ability may be affected, so allow your­self to be assisted in performing certain activ­i­ties involving compli­cated movements.
• Be careful performing your daily activities.
• Depending on the type and extent of your surgery you may need to allow time for rest before resuming your normal everyday activ­i­ties, including work.
• Main­tain good body hygiene.
• After surgery, you should may feel discom­fort or become fatigued in the first few days.
• If you feel that you are feeling more pain than you expected, or if you develop fever, or show any sign that may be infec­tion, you should call your surgeon.
• In event of an emer­gency, you may also call 911 or visit your closest emer­gency room.
• Keep all of your post-surgical appoint­ments with your surgeon and / or any therapy instructions.