Preadmission stuff.

This afternoon, I went to the hospital for my preadmission testing session. About a third of the 90 minute session was spent in reviewing the information already in their files and going over any additions or corrections.

Another 30 minutes was spent getting an EKG, taking a nasal swab, and drawing blood. The nasal swab was to be sure I didn’t have any MRSA germs (look it up - that’s that really bad bacteria). It took two techs, but only two sticks to get a vein, so not too bad. The bad news is that the vein they found was in the left (surgical) arm, so it can’t be used for the IV at surgery. One of my instructions was to drink lots of fluids, preferably water, in the two days prior to surgery. This is to increase the fluid content of my body so veins are easier to find. It’s a good think I like water, but there is that obvious annoying side effect of increasing liquid intake. Oh, well…..

Then there was the information and instruction section. I’m scheduled for 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, 25 October, to be at the hospital by 6:15. I got instructions for which medicines to stop taking on Saturday (NSAID, aspirin, fish oil); nothing after midnight before; which meds to take before going to the hospital. I got advice on clothes to wear and bring with me. The nurse gave me some antiseptic cleanser to wash the left upper half of my body the night before and the morning of surgery.

The hospital stay will be about three days. I got lots of advice about pain meds and pain control - when to ask for meds and (what I’ve always said) not to let the pain get ahead of you. It’s nice that they really want you to have as little pain as possible.

I also got a bunch of reading material - some particularly about shoulder replacement, some about joint replacements in general. So now I’m in the system and starting the count-down.
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John does take great bridge pictures.