Getting Ready for Surgery:
- Plan to be in the hospital 3 to 5 days.
- Get your home ready by doing laundry and other housework, such as:
- Go grocery shopping.
- Put the things you use often between waist and shoulder height. Then, you do not have to bend down or stretch to reach them.
- Stop taking vitamins, supplements, and herbs 2 weeks before your surgery.
- Stop taking ibuprofen (Motrin® or Advil®) and naproxen (Aleve®) 1 week before surgery.
- Eat a balanced diet.
- Exercise to help you be as strong as possible. If you can walk, do so for 30 minutes each day.
- Stop smoking at least 1 month before surgery. This puts you at less risk of having breathing problems, blood clots, and infection. It helps you heal faster.
- Follow the orders you were given about taking blood thinner and diabetes medicines.
- Stop drinking all alcohol 1 month before surgery.
Immuno-nutrition:
- Do not use this product if you have diabetes. It can worsen diabetes control.
- This is proven to work in many studies. It works better than a plain nutrition supplement.
- Drink 3 cartons of Ensure Surgery® shake each day. Do this for 5 days before surgery.
- You cannot buy this in stores. Buy it online from Walmart, Amazon, or Ensure websites.
- It costs about $60 for 5-days of shakes.
- You do not need to buy or bring the drinks for after surgery. You can order it from the hospital menu.
What to Bring:
- A list of current medicines
- Insurance card
- Ear plugs
- Phone charger
- A copy of your Advance Directive form
- A change of comfortable clothes for when you go home
- Toiletries you may want
- Your CPAP or BiPAP, if you have one
- Medical devices and documents, such as insulin for insulin pumps
- Cards for medical devices, such as nerve/bladder stimulators or pacemakers
Do not bring:
- A lot of money
- Your home medicines
- Valuables