Hospital admission usually takes place a day before the operation, at which time you will receive advice about taking your medications in the morning of the surgery. On the surgery day, several blood samples will be taken and further tests completed should the need arise.
On the day of the operation:
- Should the surgical site include body hair, you will be shaved in order to expose the area and avoid possible future infection.
- You will be asked to bath using an antiseptic soap to cleanse your body.
- Prior to leaving the ward for the operating room a sedative will be administered and at this point your family will be asked to leave you.
- A medical team will accompany you to the operating room where you will be received by a nurse and an anesthesiologist. Shortly after this you will be given anesthetic drugs, and will wake up in the intensive care unit only after the surgery has been completed.
- As you know, cardiac surgery takes several hours to perform, so during that time your family will be able to wait in the waiting hall, situated on the 3rd level, where they can be updated regarding your progress.
