Preparing for Surgery

If you decide to proceed with surgery, you will need to make preparations prior to your surgery date.

• Arrange a support network to help with every day tasks when you get home (e.g. shopping, cooking, laundry), and even better if you can arrange for someone to stay with you.
• Prepare meals and keep them in the freezer for easy access when you get home
• Put everyday useful items within easy reach so you will not have to stretch or bend to reach them.
• Remove all trip hazards like rugs and loose carpet. Remove or tape down electrical cords. Make sure you have a comfortable high seat that has a firm back and arm supports that you can easily get in and out of.
• Make sure your bathroom is safe. A discussion with an occupational therapist at the preadmission clinic or during your hospital stay may be required to assess whether rails, special stools or non-slip matt’s will be needed on your return home.
• Things like slip on shoes with rubber soles, a long handle shoehorn, and a long handle sponge, may be helpful when you return home.
• If you smoke, then ideally you will quit. Smoking increases the complication risk for anaesthesia, wound healing, infection and bone healing.
• If you drink alcohol, then stop 48 hours before your operation. You must notify us of your alcohol volume, as this may cause issues with alcohol withdrawal in the days following your admission.
• If you are taking any blood thinning medication (aspirin, voltaren, warfarin, plavix, clopidogrel etc.) you will need to notify Dr Agolley and his staff, and cease these as directed (Usually 5-10 days prior to your surgery date) to minimize your bleeding risk.
• Arrange for someone to stay with you, of you to stay with someone for at least a 24-hour period after you leave hospital to ensure that you are managing out of hospital.
• The day prior to your operation, you may need to wash yourself with a medicated solution if it was provided to you from the preadmission clinic.
• Do not shave anywhere on your body in the days preceding, or on the day of your operation, as this may increase your risk of surgical site infection.
• Stay out of the garden, or situations where you may accidentally break your skin and contract an infection. If you think you have an infection anywhere in your body including anywhere on your skin or teeth, or a cough or cold, notify Dr Agolley’s rooms ASAP.
• If you require any dental procedures including a general clean, then complete them more than two weeks prior to your surgery, or more than 6 weeks after your surgery, as this may compromise your surgery particularly if you are having a joint replacement.