Shortly before the day your operation is scheduled, you will receive detailed instructions about where you will need to be, and at what time, on the day of surgery. You should have received detailed instructions about your child's diet before surgery when the operation was originally scheduled. Read these instructions carefully, as we will cancel your child's operation if your child has been given food or drink too closely to the time of surgery. These instructions are for your child's safety. A child may not eat before surgery due to the risk of vomiting and subsequent pneumonia, so please follow the instructions very carefully. If the instructions are unclear to you, please call rather than feed your child. If you are calling on the day of surgery, call the surgical facility and ask to speak with an anesthesiologist. We realize that your child will get hungry, thirsty, and cranky just before the operation, and, if there are delays, the frustration can mount. Please be patient, and never give your child food or drink unless otherwise directed.

If your child has been taking medications in the days and weeks prior to surgery, please bring a list of those medications and their dosages with you. Alternatively, you may simply bring the bottles to the facility. If you child needs to take an antibiotic because of a heart murmur, please inform the anesthesiologist or Dr. Schaeffer.

Surgery Time

When it is time for your child's operation, you will not be allowed to go back into the operating room. The operating room is a sterile environment that functions like a machine. The presence of a parent would be distracting to the surgical team and thus potentially diminish the quality of care your child will receive. Your child's team will, at the minimum, consist of an anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist, Dr. Schaeffer, a circulating nurse, and a scrub technician. The circulating nurse will typically give updates to the family at various intervals during long operations. We try very hard to predict in advance how long an operation might take. If we run over this time, do not panic or assume something is going wrong. Delays may occur for a variety of reasons, many of which have nothing to do with the operation itself.

After Surgery

After your child's operation, he or she will be taken to the recovery room. You will be asked to be with your child as soon as your child is awake. For outpatient operations, your child will be offered liquids to drink shortly after waking up. Dr. Schaeffer typically uses local and regional anesthetics ("numbing medicine") so that your child will not wake up in pain. Crying is common, usually due to the disorientation of awakening from anesthesia. Your child may have tubes or drains which are placed to promote good healing, so please be careful when holding your child after surgery.

If your child is admitted to the hospital after surgery, the nursing staff will do all the work to care for your child post-operatively. You will be allowed to stay with your child in a private room on a dedicated pediatric ward. If you are taking your child home after surgery, you will receive detailed instructions at the time of discharge, both verbally from Dr. Schaeffer and in writing from the surgical facility. You may even receive additional written instructions about the particular operation your child had. Please follow your child's post-operative instructions carefully. The result your child achieves often depends on the care he or she receives after surgery. If you have any questions about your child's post-operative care, please call the office during regular business hours and ask to speak to the nurse. If you think your child may need to be seen, please do not wait until the afternoon to call us, as the office will be closing soon. If you have a question after hours, and you do not feel your question can wait until the office opens again, please contact Dr. Schaeffer as directed elsewhere in this website.