Victoria Surgery

Food and liquids in the stomach during an anesthetic are not safe. They create stomach acid that can return up the esophagus and enter the lungs. We are emphatic that you don't eat for 6 hours before surgery and don't drink for 4 hours before surgery.

Victoria Surgery will contact you one week prior to your surgery with your expected arrival and surgery times. We usually ask you to arrive 45 minutes before the scheduled surgery time.

On the day of your surgery, in the interests of simplicity, please leave your valuables and cosmetics at home. If there are special requirements, Victoria Surgery or your doctor's office will inform you in advance.

When you arrive promptly at the pre-arranged time, you will be greeted by our receptionist at the front desk and escorted to your private admission room. These comfortable admission rooms feature heated tile floors, a private washing area, TV, stereo and telephone.

We will review your admission paperwork and consent process, and then leave you in privacy to wash and change into a patient gown and robe. Your surgeon and anesthetist will then visit you in the privacy of your preoperative admission room to review your upcoming surgery, health concerns, and answer any questions. The surgeon will identify the correct site with a marking pen. It may be of benefit to have your questions and concerns prepared ahead of time by writing them down and bringing them with you. This will ensure that you do not forget any important details if you are feeling nervous. During this time, our staff will be preparing the operating room for your surgery.

You will walk across the hall from your admission room to the operating room. Your operating room nurses and technicians will greet you, confirm your procedure and identify the exact site of the surgery. Don't be alarmed if they ask what you are having done; they just want to make sure the consent form is accurate.

You will be placed on the operating table under a nice hot air blanket. Before you go to sleep you will have a BP cuff, oxygen monitor, and ECG monitor connected. The anesthesiologist will start an intravenous drip and inject the medications when it is time to go to sleep. Quite often you are asked to breathe some oxygen through a mask as you given the anesthetic. The staff remains with you throughout your procedure and escort you to the recovery room with the anesthesiologist.

Most daycare patients at Victoria Surgery will be cared for in the recovery room for between one and five hours post-surgery. Your time in the recovery area depends on your procedure, duration, and pain and nausea requirements.

The recovery area is fully equipped to monitor patients after surgery and the nurse is observing you at all times. You will have an IV line in your arm or wrist to provide fluids and receive medications. You may also have a mask over your face to provide oxygen.

Many people feel groggy right after an operation but the newest generation of anesthetic drugs wear off quite quickly. It's possible to have some nausea and vomiting, but every effort is made to prevent these. The nurse will administer as much medication for pain control as you require. Our nurses have considerable experience at making patients comfortable while minimizing the side effects of the various drugs.

When you are ready to go the nurse will give specific, detailed instructions to you and the responsible adult picking you up. They will discuss optimizing your pain control, care of the surgical site, and what to do if any complications develop. Only when our medical staff has assessed you will you be discharged.

Please make arrangements for your ride to be available at any time and we will call them approximately 30 minutes before you are ready to leave. We have pagers available for drivers who may not be at a number where we can easily contact them.

Rides for overnight patients should arrive at the clinic by 7:30 on the morning after surgery. We discharge all patients who have had an anesthetic via wheelchair to your car, so please ensure all rides park in the privacy of our underground parkade.