Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy
What happens on the day of your surgery.
In this video you will learn what
happens on the day of your surgery,
how to care for yourself while you are
still in the hospital,
what happens on the day of your surgery.
If you were told you need to take your
medicines on the morning of surgery
take them at home with a sip of water.
When you arrive at the hospital you must
come to the surgical admissions unit
two hours before your surgery is scheduled.
Your surgeon's office will
confirm the date and time with you a few
days before your surgery.
The surgical admission clinic
is on the second floor of the
Peter Munk building
at Toronto General Hospital.
What to expect when you arrive at the
surgical unit.
When you arrive the nurses will help you
get ready for surgery.
A nurse will check your blood pressure,
pulse, temperature, and
breathing rate. After the
nurse has checked you
you will change into a hospital gown.
A nurse will put an intravenous (IV)
in a vein in your arm. The IV is used to
give you fluids and medicines
during and after surgery.
As your healthcare team prepares you for
surgery they will check your hospital
identification band and ask the same
questions many times
such as your name, date of birth and the
type of surgery you are having.
The team asks you these questions to
ensure your safety
and make sure you are getting the
correct treatment.
After surgery you will go to the post-anesthetic care unit.
This is the recovery
room where the nurses
will care for you until you wake up.
When you wake up,
you may have a catheter in place.
A catheter is a thing tube,
put in your bladder
to drain pee.
The nurse will remove the catheter.
You will usually stay in PACU for one to
two hours.
Once you are awake and stable you will
go to a short stay unit until you are
ready to go home.
At the short stay unit nurses will check
your vital signs
like blood pressure and pulse, your
incisions or surgical cuts and check for
vaginal bleeding
to ensure that there are no problems,
give you medicine to relieve your pain,
remove your IV when you are drinking
well,
help you sit up and get out of bed,
take you to the bathroom and measure
your pee to make sure your bladder is
working well,
and give you something to drink and eat.
How to care for yourself while you are
still in the hospital.
Here are a few things you can do to care
for yourself while you are still
in the hospital. One do the deep
breathing and coughing exercises
your nurse showed you during your
pre-admission visit.
These exercises help expand your lungs
after surgery.
Two, do the leg exercises you were shown
these exercises increase blood flow to
your legs and prevent
blood clots. Three, walk around the unit
moving early and often helps you recover
by opening up your lungs
increasing blood flow to your legs and
preventing infections.
Four, have a pee and empty your bladder
as much as you can.
If you have trouble peeing tell your
nurse if you cannot pee.
After a few tries your nurse may put a
catheter back into your bladder.
You may go home with a catheter in place
and have it removed in the clinic in a
few days.
For more information on your recovery
and other questions you may have
read the pamphlet about preparing for
your surgery and recovery at home.
Your healthcare provider will review
with you the discharge instructions
these include going over symptoms to
watch for.
You may need to return to the hospital
if you have these symptoms.
Provide you with a follow-up appointment
date
review your discharge prescriptions with
You.
You will go home the same day as your
surgery if your healthcare team feels
you are doing well.
Make sure you arrange for someone to
take you home.
Someone must stay at home with you on
the first night you return home from
surgery.
In case of an emergency
if you need to stay overnight in the
hospital for medical reasons
arrange for someone to pick you up at 8 am
the following morning.
In this video you have learned what
happens on the day of your surgery
how to care for yourself while you are
still in the hospital
watch the next video to learn about how
to take care of yourself.