Pre-admission Testing

The appointment began with a hilarious, crotchety old guy in the waiting room. He was an ex-professional baseball player waiting for a hip replacement and telling stories about his glory days.

I had to answer about a hundred questions about every possible medical issue you can imagine, even though I did this online during my pre-registration.

The anesthesia nurse talked to me about the anesthesia and side effects but most of the discussion revolved around my diabetes management during surgery. In 15 years I’ve never let anybody else manage it. It was good to hear that I can wear my pump during surgery and they actually want my blood sugar to be high, about 250 to prevent hypoglycemia during surgery. During the 15 hours of fasting before surgery I was worried about getting too low and after discussing it she called the doctor to confirm I can use glucose gel if needed during fasting. I’ve also asked for my IV to be started at check-in so I can get some dextrose.

Then another nurse checked my vitals and did an EKG. And 4 tubes of blood and a cup of pee later I was finished. For the first time in a month nobody felt me up!

Next is a PET scan on Thursday.