Perioperative Instructions
In order to make your day of surgery and post-operative recovery as smooth as possible, below is a list of instructions and pearls taken from our experience and patient feedback:

1. At least one business day before your scheduled surgery be sure to connect with our office to confirm the arrival time for your surgery and your pharmacy for your prescriptions and to schedule your follow up visit. We can be reached at (936) 220-1013 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays.
    
2. We will make best effort to send in your prescriptions before your surgery. Often these will require further authorizations or information with your pharmacy that we need to follow up on. In these cases (often Monday morning surgery), they will be available for pick up after your operation.
    
3. In the days leading up to your surgery, be sure to get adequate rest and hydration and eat light nutritious foods.
    
4. Bowels tend to slow down after anesthesia and surgery. Going into surgery constipated can make things more uncomfortable. We recommend a daily over-the-counter stool softener such as Colace or Surfak starting a few days before your surgery. If you have not had a bowel movement in the days before your surgery, it is helpful to try a laxative such as Miralax, Milk of Magnesia, Ducolax or Fleetz enema 24 hours before your scheduled surgery to get things going.
    
5. In most cases we ascribe to a version of accelerated recovery from anesthesia and surgery (ARAS). This means we will get you eating and ambulating as soon as possible after surgery and use techniques to minimize the need for narcotics. For this to work, early aggressive use of pain management is key. Patients find it easier to get off pain medication quicker with early breaking of the pain cycle with use of medication.
    
6. Generally, we recommend not eating or drinking anything after midnight before your surgery. It is ok to take most meds with a sip of water and it is generally ok to drink clear liquids if very thirsty up to 2 hours before you arrive for surgery.
    
7. Be sure to have some help the day and night of surgery.
    
8. If you develop any problems or concerns after surgery, we want to know about it and help you. Please call our office first at (936) 220-1013. If the office is open, your doctor help you. If it is after hours, we have a nurse on call who can help answer questions.
    
9. Please let our office know if you need help with paperwork for FMLA and employer notification.

Please feel free to reach out to our office any time with questions or concerns or send non urgent communication through our patient portal.