Yes. You may receive a couple of calls from our facility.

• One of our Nurse Navigators will contact you 24-48 hours prior to your surgery. They will review your health history and provide instructions for surgery. She will conduct a review of your health history and provide instructions for surgery. Please plan about 10-20 minutes for this call. This is the time to ask any questions you might have about your procedure.
• A biller from the business office will contact you to address financial matters regarding your procedure—insurance coverage, co-payments and deductibles. (This call applies only to the facility fee for surgery).

• If you will need to have disability paperwork (i.e. FMLA, short term disability) completed for your employer, please bring or mail the correct forms to your surgeon's office at least one week before your surgery.
• Be sure your portion of forms is completed. The original will be mailed or faxed, depending on your request, to the employer and/or insurance company and a copy will be sent to you. Please supply the correct fax number if the form is to be sent in that manner.
• If you have questions concerning the completion of the forms, please call the Disability Department, at 573-443-2402 ext. 273.

• The surgery center will receive all of your medical history information from the surgeon's office before they call you to review your health history.
• During this call, we will ask some additional specific questions that better assist our anesthesia provider in planning your anesthesia care.
• Your safety is our top priority, we want to make sure all of the information we have on file is up to date, accurate, and complete. This will also give you the opportunity to remember health information that you might have forgotten during your preoperative visit with the surgeon.

• Your surgeon may give you an order for necessary testing to make sure you are healthy for surgery.
• This may include lab work, chest x-ray, or EKG.
• You will need to complete any required testing as soon as possible, to prevent any delays to your surgery.
• Be sure to have your doctor's office send all necessary paperwork regarding pre-operative tests and blood work to your surgeon.
• Your surgeon may also ask you to be seen by your primary care physician and or dentist to ensure that you are healthy enough for surgery.

• Call your surgeon's office if there are any changes to your well-being prior to your procedure.
• Signs/symptoms of cold, flu or COVID (fever, cough, sinus drainage, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) should all be reported to your surgeon's office right away.
• Scratches, bug bites, bruises, abrasions, rashes, blisters, etc. of the operative extremity should be reported to your surgeon's office right away.
• With advanced notice, we can try to avoid any delays to your scheduled surgery.

• Before surgery, you and your anesthesia provider will discuss your history and review the anesthesia plan; this is when you'll be able to voice all of your questions and concerns.
• Make sure to communicate any anesthesia concerns you have during your pre-op call with your Nurse Navigator.

• Your Nurse Navigator will give you specific directions regarding your medications during your pre-operative phone call.
• During the call, do not forget to mention the use of blood thinners, blood pressure/heart medications or diabetic medications. If you take any blood pressure medications ending in "artan" or "pril", do not take for 24 hours BEFORE surgery.
• If you are on any anti-inflammatory or aspirin-based medication, you will need to stop these 5 days BEFORE your surgery date.
• STOP Coumadin 5 days BEFORE surgery and Plavix 7 days BEFORE surgery if you routinely take these medications.
• Your Primary Care Physician may also give you additional instructions regarding your home medications.

• Showering will help prevent surgical site infections.
• Shower the night before and the morning of your surgery. Avoid aggressively scrubbing the area of the surgical site.
• Wash your hair with shampoo first.
• Using a clean washcloth for both showers, wash your body with a liquid antibacterial soap.
• Do not shave near the surgical site.
• Once you have rinsed thoroughly, use a clean towel after each shower.
• Do not use lotions, powders, or perfumes after showering.

Major risks include, but are not limited to, infection, blood clot formation (DVT), chronic pain, stiffness, pulmonary embolus, injury to surrounding ligament, nerve, or blood vessels, and the need for possible further surgery.

• To reduce your risk of infection, you may receive IV antibiotics prior to surgery.
• There are many things that may be done to help reduce your risk of blood clot. These include blood thinners, leg pumps, and early mobilization and walking.
• To reduce your risk of chronic pain and stiffness, you must work hard on your physical therapy which is key to your success. Your surgeon may prescribe exercises for you through Force Therapeutics. Please ask your Nurse Navigator for more information.