Scheduling Surgery
Scheduling your child's surgery will be done after your initial appointment by the surgery scheduler in the Children's Neurosurgical Associates office. You will be contacted with possible dates so that you can actively participate in the decision about when your child will have surgery. You will also be scheduled for a pre-op appointment a few days before the surgery.
The neurosurgery program is very busy. Not infrequently, a child comes in to the hospital with a serious neurosurgical condition requiring urgent or emergency surgery to save their life or preserve their function. If this happens, it will be necessary to reschedule an elective surgery to do the urgent surgery. Please understand that we don’t cancel a scheduled surgery unnecessarily or lightly. We appreciate that your family has gone to a great deal of trouble to prepare for your child’s surgery. However, this does happen from time to time. We will make every effort to reschedule your child’s surgery as soon as possible. Also keep in mind that the scheduled time of surgery is an estimate, and the actual time may be very different.
The Pre-op Appointment
The pre-op appointment will be with Patrick Wong, PA, our Physician Assistant or Kristen Ghoussaini, CPNP, our Nurse Practitioner. You will be given one of their numbers to call if you find that your child's needs are not being met by the normal channels of communication through the nursing staff. At times, an Anesthesia Nurse Specialist will also see your child. At the appointment, your child will be evaluated to be sure that he or she is ready to undergo anesthesia and surgery. You will also be given instructions about what to do the night before and the day of surgery. (Please return to the patient information tab for more information on night before and the day of surgery). We will also give you information about pain control after the surgery. You will be asked about medications which your child is taking at home on a regular basis. If you are unsure about the dosage and frequency, it is helpful if you bring the containers of the medications with you to the pre-op appointment. If the neurosurgeon has ordered blood work before the surgery, it will be drawn after this appointment. At the pre-op appointment you may also have the opportunity to meet with a Child Life Specialist. This specialist helps prepare your younger child for the surgery experience. The pre-surgical preparation program is age specific and helps deal with the fears most children have of the unknown. The visit is play oriented with hands-on time to see how our equipment “really works” and picture books about "operations" to look at. We will make sure that you have directions on how to get to the right location on the day of the surgery.