Santa Barbara ENT | Scheduling and Pre-operative Information

Surgery

Surgery Once the decision has been made for surgery, there are several things that must be done to prepare for the surgery day.

First you will contact the surgery scheduler, Carol, to start looking at dates for the surgery. Carol can be reached at (805) 563-1999 and she will review the available dates with you. Please be aware that for most surgeries, we recommend no travel out of the Santa Barbara area and no heavy exercise or lifting for three weeks after surgery. Most patients will be out of work or school for up to a week, but Dr. Golgert will discuss the specific requirements regarding your surgery. Also, you will need to have someone drive you home after surgery, so make sure that you arrange this before you pick your surgery date. You cannot go home in a taxi or on the bus.

Please note that the time of your surgery will not be determined until the week of surgery. Please let us know if you prefer a specific time and we will do our best to accommodate your request. Surgeries are often scheduled by age with the youngest children in the morning.

Your insurance company will be contacted to obtain insurance approval. It is your responsibility to communicate with your insurance company to determine how much of the co-pay or deductible you will be responsible for. Also, be aware that there will be charges from many different sources for the surgery (the hospital or surgery center, the anesthesiologist, the pathologist, and the surgeon) and these will all be charged separately.

For adult patients, you will need to have a medical clearance from your primary care doctor. We will send a letter to let your doctor know the details of the surgery, but you will need to schedule the appointment. For some procedures, blood work, an EKG and a chest x-ray will be performed.

We recommend that you stop taking aspirin and ibuprofen a week before surgery. If you are on blood thinners, please make sure Dr. Golgert is aware of this. You will need to stop them prior to surgery, but your primary care doctor will help decide when that can be done.

You will have an appointment with Dr. Golgert during the week before your surgery to review the medical clearance from your doctor, to ensure all of the pre-op paperwork is complete, to ensure that your condition has not changed and to give you your prescriptions for after surgery. This is also the time to make sure that all of your questions have been answered. After this appointment, please fill your prescriptions right away. Occasionally, the medications need to be ordered by the pharmacy and there can be a delay in filling them. We want to make sure you have what you need after surgery.

It is important that you have an empty stomach before your surgery. After midnight, you may not eat or drink anything. A sip of water with your morning medication is permitted. If you eat or drink, your surgery will be cancelled. Infants may take formula or non-human milk up to 6 hours before surgery, breast milk up to 4 hours before surgery and clear liquids, such as water and apple juice, up to 2 hours before surgery.

You will arrive about 1 ½ hours before your surgery. The nurse will review your history and procedure and start an IV (intravenous) line for adult patients. You will meet the OR staff and anesthesiologist before your procedure.

After your surgery, you will be monitored in the post‐operative unit for up to 2 hours. The nurses will provide medication to help control your pain and they will decide when it is safe for you to go home or to your hospital room. (For some surgeries, we arrange for an overnight stay in the hospital.) When you are discharged home, they will give you detailed post‐operative instructions.

Most patients will have a follow‐up appointment with Dr. Golgert a week after surgery.

Please follow your post‐op instructions carefully to ensure the best recovery and call the office if you have any questions or concerns. Make sure to get plenty of rest while you are healing.