Preparing for one-day surgery

Steps

Before surgery

• Park in the Orange Lot behind Methodist Hospital.
• Check in at the Surgery desk.
• Parents can wait with their child.
• Parents will review paperwork and help their child put on pajamas, cap and booties, if necessary.
• Children will have their temperature taken, and a nurse will listen to their heart and lungs. Parents will meet their child's anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist and surgeon.

During surgery

• Keep a calm and positive attitude – it will help children remain calm.
• Bring a clean blanket or toy to keep your child company (for young children).
• Tell your child you will see him or her soon.
• It is important to wait in the designated waiting room. The surgeon will visit parents once surgery is finished.

After surgery

When surgery is complete, children are taken to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit or "wake-up room." A nurse is with them as they wake. Once children are more alert, they are moved to the observation area. This is where parents rejoin their children.

As the child continues to become more alert, he or she is able to start drinking liquids. Patients and their family members can go home when staff feels parents and children are comfortable.

Some children may go to the hospital's Children and Young Adults Unit for an overnight stay.