The Pre-Op Appointment

Hello again! Today's insight is into the labwork/pre-op appointment that you'll need to do. This is where the bloodwork gets done, as well as when you are questioned about medical history. This is supposed to happen 7-10 days before surgery. A quick point- I've heard two different answers from two different people about whether or not it is fasting bloodwork (if you are allowed to eat or not for a few hours beforehand), so be sure to ask!

For convenience and so I could scope out the facility, I went to the hospital my surgery next week will be at- Lovelace Women's Hospital, here in Albuquerque.

This is the hospital in the tiny photo. It is more for woman-related things like childbirth and such, however they have a very nice surgical unit and more importantly, are covered by my insurance.

You go check in at the main admissions office, and they fill you in on surgery information, check contacts and personal info, and maybe fill you in on financial information (for example, my hospital requires a sort of down payment due when I check in for my surgery). You also sign a few forms. They direct you to the pre-op area, where you get sent to the lab to get bloodwork, a urinalysis, and pregnancy test if you're female. The bloodwork is mainly for checking the state of your organs, blood levels, and cholesterol, among other things.

Then after that's done they send you back to the pre-op area, where you will get interviewed on family medical history, your personal medical history (diseases, conditions, allergies, recent flus or colds), if you know if you/any family member have had bad reactions to anesthesia, and a few other things like that.

All of this will be sent (in my case, at least) back to my podiatric surgeon at his clinic so that when I have my appointment for my physical and consent form-signing in a few days, they know all of this information.

Overall, from check-in to when I left, all of this took about an hour and a half, including wait time in the pre-op lobby. I had figured by going mid-morning on a weekday that would happen.

Next blogs-

-The pre-surgery physical, and consent form-signing/information appointment

-What to do/not do before a surgery

-Whether or not I'm too doped out on painkillers to be coherent a few days after the surgery