On the day of your prostate cancer surgery

Before your operation

When you arrive, the ward staff start getting you ready for your operation.

You will have been told when to stop eating and drinking before you go into hospital. If you are going in the night before, this will happen on the ward. It is important to follow this for the anaesthetic.

You’ll see your surgeon and anaesthetist before you go to the operating theatre. They will go over everything again to make sure you know what to expect. You can ask any questions you have. You sign a consent form for the operation if you didn't do it at the clinic.

A few hours before your operation

Your nurse will check your blood pressure, pulse and breathing rate. They will go through a series of questions on a checklist to make sure you are ready for surgery. They ask you to:

• tell them when you last had something to eat and drink 

• change into a hospital gown

• put on a pair of surgical stockings

• take off any jewellery (except for a wedding ring)

• remove contact lenses if you have them

• put on 2 hospital identification bands usually on each wrist

If you have false teeth you can usually keep them in until you get to the anaesthetic room.

Shaving

For some types of surgery, you need to shave the skin over the operation area. Or your nurse can shave it for you. They might do this when you’re under anaesthetic in the operating room.

You can ask your surgeon or nurse about this.

Having the anaesthetic

You have the operation under general anaesthetic. A general anaesthetic means that you will be in a deep sleep. When you wake up, the operation will be over. 

You have the general anaesthetic in the anaesthetic room or the operating theatre. All the doctors and nurses wear theatre gowns, hats and masks. This reduces your chance of getting an infection.

When you wake up from surgery

After the operation, you usually wake up in the recovery room. Once it’s safe to do so, you usually go back to the ward. 

Find out what to expect when you wake up from prostate cancer surgery