Preparing for Surgery: The Two Weeks Before

The clients who recover most comfortably are almost always the ones who prepared before the day of surgery. Not because they did anything heroic — because nothing was left to be figured out while they were sore, drowsy and dependent on someone else.

Start with your surgeon's pre-operative packet. Read it twice, and highlight every instruction with a date attached: when to stop supplements, when to stop eating and drinking, which medications to hold, when to arrive. Put those dates directly into your calendar with alarms.

Fill your prescriptions early. Pharmacies run out, prior authorizations take time, and nobody should be waiting at a counter on discharge day. Have pain medication, antibiotics, anti-nausea medication, stool softeners and any prescribed antiseptic wash in the house before you leave for the facility.

Arrange your escort and your care in writing. Most facilities will not discharge you without a responsible adult. If a family member is your escort but cannot provide overnight care, book nursing for the first night specifically — that is the shift where complications, nausea and falls are most likely.

Finally, prepare a single folder — physical or digital — with your surgeon's contact number, your discharge instructions, your medication list, your emergency contact and your insurance card. Your nurse will ask for it, and having it in one place saves an hour of searching.