Today Luanne had her pre-op appointment with a Kaiser nurse practitioner. It consisted mostly of taking vitals, giving blood, getting a baseline EKG and informing her of the preparations she would have to do prior to and on the day of surgery. If you have had a colonoscopy (lucky you) this is similar and in some ways easier.
One interesting aspect is that they want Luanne to work on breathing before and after surgery, in an effort to prevent pneumonia. Ira’s sister Sioux, a retired RN, developed and promoted a program to this very purpose many years ago. She called it “Smell the Roses” and patients were taught to breathe deeply, as if smelling roses. Now the hospital gives you a small, take home, plastic “breathe-o-meter”. It seems to easily do the same thing and gives you visual feedback as to how well you are doing. Next there will be an app for that!
Here is the device:
