the day of surgery. written by a surgeon who is in the waiting room this time.

When you are a patient, or a loved one of a patient, surgery is scary.  Sitting in that waiting room.  WAITING.  The clock moves impossibly slow.  How many games of solitaire can you play on your iPad before going crazy?  Most of the surgeries I perform are elective.  (Translating to English: most of my patients are healthy.  They do not have a recent trauma, infection, or cancer diagnosis, so they won’t be dealing with the additional emotional rollercoaster of wondering will it all be okay? What did they find? )  But surgery is just plain ol’ stressful.

So as I sat, waiting, I reminded myself of basic mental survival techniques for those in the waiting room.

• Follow the preop orders.  If you are unclear, talk to your doctor.  If you take medications, ask which ones you may need/not need.  Usually do not eat or drink anything after midnight (yes, this includes no morning coffee, donut, or nibbles off your kids plates.)  Do your preop labs, EKGs, and mammograms.  Don’t do these tests at the last second, so if there are abnormal values you will know about them ahead of time.  Write down any questions you have- you will forget them. You don’t want your surgery to get canceled or  postponed. 
• This is a normal day at the office for your surgeon.  Surgery is a once or twice in a lifetime thing for most patients, but for surgeons, it is just another Monday.  This is not to lessen the importance of your surgery, but to remind you the people you meet at the hospital- preop nurses, OR nurses, anesthesia doctors, and your surgeon- do this all the time.  This is their job.  And if you picked the right doctor, they are good at it.
• If it takes longer than they told you this does not mean something bad is going on.   Usually doctors are pretty good at their estimates, but sometimes things just take longer.  A quote I heard when I was training was “surgery will take as long as it needs to.”  Don’t let your mind run amok.
• Eat. Drink. Breathe. You, the loved one in the waiting room, can eat and drink.  You being tired, thirsty, and hungry is not productive.  You can even (gasp) leave the waiting area for a while.  Give the receptionist your cell phone, and they can call you if  you aren’t there when surgery is done.
• You won’t be able to see your loved one right after surgery is done.  Patients generally are in recovery for around an hour after general anesthesia.  Nothing bad is going on, they are just waking up and becoming coherent.
• Your significant other may not remember anything you talk about, or it can be like groundhog day, where they may repeat themselves over and over.  “Did the surgery go alright?!”  “yes.”  “oh good.”  ….. “Did the surgery go alright??”  “yes.”  …. “Did the surgery go alright?”  “yes, it did.”  Just roll with it.  It is due to the medication, and it wears off.

I have been on all sides of this fence.  I like being the surgeon.  A few times I was the patient (ouch).  And now, I am the loved one waiting in the waiting room.  Waiting is tough. 

Hang in there.