The Trillium Show with Dr. Jason Hall

To help you make the journey to your surgery a successful one, there are some essential steps that you can take. For this episode, we go through what we lovingly refer to as the “Ten Commandments” for the pre-operative period between your preoperative visit and your surgery day. Each of them will provide some details on what you need to do in order to make your journey a success! Check them out!

Show Notes

To help you make a the journey to your surgery a successful one, there are some essential steps that you can take. For this episode, we go through what we lovingly refer to as the “Ten Commandments” for the pre-operative period between your preoperative visit and your surgery day.  Each of them will provide some details on what you need to do in order to make your journey a success! Check them out!

Highlights:

Links:
Dr. Jason Hall, MD


What is The Trillium Show with Dr. Jason Hall?

Hello and welcome to The Trillium Show with Dr. Jason Hall!

This podcast is all about navigating the changes in our lives, whether they be through plastic surgery, adopting new habits, or making positive life improvements. Dr. Jason Hall, a renowned plastic surgeon and lifestyle expert, is here to guide us through the ups and downs of transformation.

Throughout this series, we'll explore topics such as body positivity, self-confidence, healthy living, and much more. Dr. Hall will share his expertise, as well as invite special guests to join us in the discussion.

So, whether you're considering plastic surgery or simply looking to make positive changes in your life, this podcast is for you. Get ready to be inspired, informed, and empowered on The Trillium Show with Dr. Jason Hall.

Dr. Hall: Welcome to The Trillium Show, where we help you make the changes you want to see in your body, in your mind, and in your life. I’m your host, Dr. Jason Hall.

Dr. Hall: So, before surgery, there are a lot of things that we go over. You get a lot of information and there’s a lot of things for you to be aware of before your surgery even starts. So, to help you make the run-up to surgery a lot easier and less anxiety-provoking, I’ve put together this list of ten commandments of preoperative surgery, if you would like to listen to this, or watch it instead of listening to it, please head over to the YouTube channel, you can check that out there. Otherwise, please enjoy.

So the—really—ten things that you need to focus on when we’re talking about preparing for surgery. The first thing is have a responsible driver and a caretaker that are arranged for your day of surgery. You’re not able to take an Uber home from the operating room, it’s just not safe. And you really, after having general anesthesia of any kind, should have somebody sitting with you, if for no other reason than to help for the first day after surgery.

Rule number two is read the manual. We give you an extensive list of preoperative instructions that really go through, soup to nuts, everything you need to know about the surgical process, both before and after. There’s a lot of information in there, so be sure to read it carefully because it answers a lot of questions. But if you have any questions, call the office; we’re happy to help.

Rule number three is pick up your medicines right after your preoperative visit. This is really important because a lot of the pharmacies will reshelve or restart medicines after a few days, and you’ll show up to pick your medicines up the day or two days before surgery, and it won’t be there. And you’ll panic, you’ll have to call the office; we’ll have to recall it in. It just makes everybody’s life easier if you pick up those medicines the day or two after your preoperative visit. Now, the catch to that is that I actually have to sign off on the narcotic pain medicines, and some days I don’t get to that the day that they’re pushed through, so sometimes it’s on me. And if that’s the case, just give us a call and we’ll push it through then.

Rule number four is drink enough fluid the day before surgery. Really focus on going into surgery well hydrated. And that means for most adults, two-and-a-half liters of water a day before your surgery. Not only does this help you from being thirsty after not having anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before, but being hydrated also helps minimize postoperative nausea and vomiting. So, make sure the day before your surgery that you’re really focusing on getting enough fluid.

Rule number five, shower before your surgery. Make sure you wake up in the morning, take a shower, use antibacterial soap, and get yourself clean. That’s just a good hygiene and can help prevent postoperative infections by being clean the day of your surgery.

Along with that is rule six, clean out your belly button before surgery, especially for body-contouring cases. Like, belly button land and, like, the gross stuff that collects in your belly button, clean that stuff out. And one of our nurses really gets grossed out by some of that stuff, so I’m actually putting that in there as much for her as for you. So, clean your belly button when you take a shower.

Rule number seven is make sure you take your preoperative antibiotics an hour before surgery, and for most patients that means either when you’re leaving home or shortly before you leave the hotel if you’re here from out of town. We use oral antibiotics before surgery as opposed to IV antibiotics. They work just as well in preventing infection, so take your antibiotics about an hour before surgery with a little sip of water.

Rule number eight, if you’ve got piercings, remove them. And that means all of them, even if they’re in places that are sensitive.

Rule number nine is wear loose clothing to the surgery center. So, nothing tight. The cute Lululemon stretchy pants you think really look good, don’t wear those to surgery, wear something nice and loose. Wear a loose shirt or sweatshirt that either buttons up or zips up the front. And no gogo boots are high heels or anything else like that to the surgery center.

You are asleep and kind of drunk as you’re leaving and those things are hard to walk in sober, so flatfooted shoes, flip flops, sandals, things like that, that are easy to slide into are really preferable to anything that’s, you know, lace-ups or heels. And lastly, and this is really a kind of a common sense thing is don’t get your eyelashes done shortly before surgery. When you’re asleep, our anesthesia team puts a little piece of tape on your upper eyelids so that your eyes don’t get scratched, something called a corneal abrasion, and getting new eyelashes shortly before surgery is just asking for some of those to get pulled off with tape in the operating room which we don’t want to do. So, wait until after your surgery to get your eyelashes done, and this is especially true if you’re having eyelid surgery.

Okay, so those are the ten commandments of preoperative surgery. And stay tuned for the next video where we go through the ten commandments of post-operative care. So, if there are any specific topics that you would like to see discussed or like to see a video or podcast made, please leave a comment below. Or if you’re listening to the podcast, shoot me an email at info@drjasonhall.com.

Dr. Hall: Thanks for listening to The Trillium Show. You can keep up with the latest on the podcast at jhallmd.com. Be sure to follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you want to connect with us on social media, you can find us at @jhallmd on Instagram and Twitter and @DrHallPlasticSurgery on Facebook. Remember, be the change you wish to see in the world.