After five years, I’d sort of forgotten how much preparation work is necessary before surgery. Granted, I had to do more things before having weight loss surgery than I do for the knee replacement, but there are still several tests I need to have done. I also have to schedule a pre-surgery registration appointment and a rehabilitation orientation. I’ve already had the CT scan that the surgeon needed so that my custom knee implant can be built.
The surgeon’s office issued detailed instructions, including the phone numbers I needed to call. I’m pretty impressed by their operation, although there are a couple of flaws. The instructions tell me that their office recommends that I have the pre-surgery tests done five to six weeks ahead of the operation and that they need to have the results in their hands a week prior. That sounds cut and dried, right? Well, almost. A few sentences down from that recommendation is the information that the lab tests are only good for 30 days.I think they need to double-check their own math because five to six weeks = 35-42 days.
I called my primary care physician to schedule the appointment for my labs. The scheduler suggested two weeks before my surgery for the tests and then 10 days before for my appointment with the doctor to get the medical clearance. Worried that we might be cutting it close on that “surgeon wants the results and the clearance letter a week prior”, I made the scheduler confirm twice that everything would be done and reports received on time.
The other two appointments – pre-surgery registration and rehab orientation – have to be done in Miami where I’m having the operation. Thankfully, I was able to schedule these for the same day so that I don’t have to take two days off from work to drive up, have an appointment, and drive home.
Do I sound like I’m whining? I don’t mean to. Honestly, I completely understand why all of the lab tests are necessary. It would be a very bad thing to be harboring an infection or some other medical condition I didn’t know about when I go into the hospital to have my knee opened up.
This is more my “bottom liner, get things done” tendency. I resisted the very idea of having the surgery for so long, but now that I’m committed, I want to have every last thing scheduled, organized and in place. Not only is this necessary to make sure things stay on track, but it will actually reduce the potential for stress as the surgery date approaches.
Weighty Matters 
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