How to Prepare for Your Upcoming Surgery

Are you looking into reflux surgeries? Perhaps you already have one scheduled. If so, you might be searching for answers to the following questions: how do I prepare for an upcoming surgery, and what is the best way to prepare your body for surgery? In this post, we’ll take a look at how you can prepare for your upcoming surgery and go over each of our reflux surgeries briefly.

If you are asking yourself, how do I prepare for an upcoming surgery, you might be pleased to find that there are many things you can do to make your life easier after you return home. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can get ready for your upcoming surgery:

Understand the Surgery You Are Undergoing

Here at the Tampa Bay Reflux Center, we offer a few different surgical procedures designed to eliminate your GERD symptoms for good. We know that surgery can be intimidating, especially for something that others might see as a trivial reason for getting surgery to begin with. The Tampa Bay Reflux Center team knows how difficult GERD patients have it and are here for you if you have any questions or concerns. If you have questions about your procedure, it’s best to write them down as you think of them; otherwise, you may forget in the days leading up to your consultation or the procedure itself.

The Reflux Surgical Procedures

Here at the Tampa Bay Reflux Center, we offer the following surgeries. For help determining which surgery might be right for you, start with “Which Acid Reflux Surgery Is Right For Me” and reach out to our team of experts with any questions.

• Lap Nissen Fundoplication: the upper part of your stomach is wrapped around your lower esophagus, creating a tighter connection between the two parts. This is a full surgery performed laparoscopically.

• TIF (Esophyx): a partial fundoplication (the stomach will be wrapped partially around the base of the esophagus) performed through the esophagus itself. No external incisions are made.

• LINX: a ring of magnetic beads is placed around the base of the esophagus where the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is. This is also performed through the esophagus itself and requires no external incisions.

Prepare Your Mind By Relaxing Beforehand

Meditation, calming music, a couple of PTO days, and deep breathing can go a long way to soothe your pre-surgery nerves. These things can also help your stress hormone levels reduce your blood pressure and reduce your risks for complications during surgery. Take the time to prepare, mentally, and your body will thank you.

Prepare Your Body Physically for Surgery

So, what is the best way to prepare your body for surgery? Each surgery will be a bit different, but, in general, you’re going to need to fast before each of our three surgeries. This ensures that your surgeon won’t have anything blocking their field of vision and they will be able to visualize the area properly. Exercise can also both help keep your mind off of the upcoming surgery and physically relax your body for the time being.

Make Your Life Easier for When You Get Home

If you don’t have a friend or family member to help take care of you when you get home, you’ll need to prepare in advance for your post-surgical needs what you will “eat”, your sleeping arrangements. If there is someone available to help you, make sure they are briefed properly. Above all, make sure you have some time off of work to fully recover. It’s always best if you don’t have the stress of rushing back to work; give your body time to heal in a minimal-stress environment.

Questions? Contact Your Care Team

As we mentioned above, any questions should be taken down in either a physical or digital space so that you can ask your care team about them. Do you have questions about your upcoming surgery here at the Tampa Bay Reflux Center? Get in touch with us today.