Preparing for Surgery

(For You and Family)

Surgery requires a lot of planning, especially if you have a family to feed. There are different ways of organizing your downtime while you recover and recuperate.

For instance, you can have family and friends sign up at a free website called mealtrain.com. You select the dates that you need and your family and friends will bring the food and drinks to you and your family. You can add Meal Train (Plus) if you need childcare, dog walks, rides, etc., and for the usual items...

Some groceries or items to pick up before surgery include:

• chicken broth
• teas
• extra strength tylenol, ibuprofen
• thermometer
• blood pressure cuff
• heating pad
• ice pack
• pastas
• saline/graham crackers
• rice
• Gatorade, ginger ale, or 7up (soft drink)

Be sure to schedule your payments for paying your bills via on-line banking in case you are the financial planner of the family. For example, the mortgage or rent, electricity, water, garbage, phone, and cable are all important bills to schedule payments for before a surgery or procedure.

Rides before an elective procedure need to be arranged, unless you expect that you will not be given any anesthesia. If you take a cab, Uber, or Lyft, etc., you still need a person to accompany you. Most hospitals or same day surgeries will not perform your surgery until you have indicated a designated (responsible) person to take you home.