On the day of your stomach cancer surgery

Preparing for your operation

If you have any questions about your operation the nurses can arrange for a member of the surgical team to come and talk to you. You sign a consent form for the operation if you didn't do it at the pre assessment clinic.

You might have a drip (intravenous infusion) put into your arm before your surgery so that you can have fluids through it. This makes sure you are not dehydrated before your operation.

Your nurse 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 anti embolism stockings - these help prevent blood clots

• take off any jewellery - you may be able to keep a wedding ring on

• remove contact lenses if you have them

• wear a hospital identification band - this is normally on your 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’ll 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.

Medicine you may have to relax you

Your nurse might give you a tablet or an injection to help you relax. This will be an hour or so before you go to the operating theatre. This makes your mouth feel dry. But you can rinse your mouth with water to keep it moist. 

Your nurse and a porter take you to theatre on a trolley if you’ve had this medicine. You can walk down to the theatre if you haven't had any.

Having an anaesthetic

You have a ​general anaesthetic​ so that you won’t feel anything during the operation. Your ward nurse and a porter take you to the anaesthetic room, next to the operating theatre.

All the doctors and nurses wear theatre gowns, hats and masks. This reduces your chance of getting an infection.

The ​anaesthetist​ puts a small tube (cannula) into a vein in your arm. You have any fluids and medicines you need through the cannula including the general anaesthetic. This sends you into a deep sleep. When you wake up, the operation will be over.

Before you go to sleep your anaesthetist might put a small tube in the space around your spine. They can attach a pump to this tube to give you pain medicines. This is for after your operation to help control your pain.

When you wake up from surgery

After the operation, you may wake up in the intensive care unit or a high dependency recovery unit. You usually move back to the ward within a day or so.

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