During your surgery, your family will be asked to wait in the Surgery Waiting Area on the first floor of the main hospital. One of the surgeons will call during surgery with an update and will speak with your family and friends soon after your surgery is finished. Your family will be able to see you after your surgery in the Surgery Intensive Care Unit (SICU). After this initial visit, you will have limited visitors while you are in the SICU.

When You Wake Up

You will wake up in the SICU on the third floor. The sights and sounds may seem strange to you. Monitors, all with different beeps and noises, will be checking your heart, blood pressure and breathing. Rest assured that your nurse will explain everything that is happening to you. You will have:

• a tube from your lungs coming out of your mouth. This tube is connected to a ventilator to help you breathe after surgery. It is usually taken out during the first day after your surgery.
  
• a nasogastric (or NG) tube will be coming from your nose. It drains stomach fluids, and it will stay in place until your stomach and bowels are working normally.
  
• a tube or catheter to drain urine from your bladder. Your urine will be measured carefully to see how well your kidneys are draining. The catheter will be removed a few days after your surgery. Your nurses will still need to measure your urine until you go home from the hospital.

After two-three days, barring no major complications, you will have progressed to the point that you do not need SICU monitoring, and you will leave the SICU. The floor you will go to now is called 9 South or what we refer to as the Surgical General Care Floor. The nursing staff will check on you and provide the care you need.

While you're here, you and your support person will learn about your medicines, how to monitor vital signs, and how to take care of your incision.