Welcome to Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.  When you arrive at the hospital, please enter through the main entrance and take the elevator on the right to the 2nd floor surgery waiting room.

*Remember to pack a bag with some favorite toys, a stuffed animal or a blanket!

First, check in at the registration desk and then have a seat.

While you are waiting, you can play with the toys you brought or read a book.

When it is your turn, the nurse will call your name. Your family can come, too. The nurse will measure how tall you are and how much you weigh.

In the exam room, the nurse will check your body with things like a thermometer, a blood pressure cuff, a pulse oximeter, and a stethoscope.

You will change into hospital clothes. Some kids say they look like pajamas. The nurse will give you a bracelet to wear with your name on it. It will match the bracelet that your parent or other family member received at the registration desk.

Doctors and nurses will come in to talk to your family. They ask questions like: “When was the last time you had something to eat and drink?”

*It is very important not to eat or drink before surgery.

When it is time for your surgery you can say ‘see you soon’ to your family. Your family will wait in the waiting room and you will go to the operating room with the nurses and doctors.

*You can take your stuffed animal or blanket with you to the operating room.

This is the operating room. There is a bed for you, a machine that makes the anesthesia (sleepy medicine), round lights on the ceiling, and other equipment the doctors and nurses might use.

In the operating room, doctors and nurses wear a hat and a mask to keep the room very clean. They wear hospital clothes, too.

These are the same doctors and nurses you and your family met in the exam room.

While you lay on the bed, you will wear a mask to get your sleepy medicine. The doctor can put a flavor in the mask so your sleepy medicine smells good. Some of the flavors are:  bubble gum, root beer, cherry, and grape. Which flavor do you think you will choose?

During your surgery, the medicine will keep you in a deep sleep. This is not the same as when you sleep at home – this means that you won’t see, hear, or feel anything during your surgery.

After your surgery, the doctor will stop giving you the sleepy medicine and you will slowly wake up.

You will wake up in the recovery room. The nurse will take care of you. There may be other boys and girls waking up in here, too.

The blue tube blows cool, wet air near your face to help you wake up.

You might see some tape and clear tubing on your hand or arm. This is called an IV. The nurse can use the IV to give your body medicine or a drink of water. The nurse will take the tube out before you leave the hospital.

Once you wake up, you might have a popsicle or a drink and one adult family member can be with you.

Home today?

If you are going home after surgery,
click here: 

Staying the night?

If you are staying the night,
click here: 

Staying the night

You will spend the night in a room like this. There is a bed for you, a sofa-bed for your parent or other family member, and a bathroom.

There is a television, DVD player, and a phone. You may bring your favorite movies from home or check some out from the family library.

Click here if you are going to be in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

PICU

Some patients go directly to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) after their surgery. The nurses and doctors here are trained to help patients who need extra care or special equipment.

This room is similar to the other hospital rooms. There is a bed for you, a sofa bed for your parent or other family member. There is a television, DVD player, and a phone. You may bring your favorite movies from home or check some out from the family library.

There is a pole with small machines for giving medicine. On the top of the pole is a computer screen. It helps the nurse take care of you by showing her your blood pressure, heartbeat, and oxygen level.

Playrooms

You can bring toys and games from home, but the hospital also has activity rooms on every floor.

Home today

You will go to an exam room so the nurse can take care of you until it is time for you to go home. Before you leave, the nurse will take out the IV. Most children say they feel the tape coming off, but not the tube coming out.

 

Now it is time for you to go home.

Bye!

Thank you for having your surgery at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.

Click here for other helpful resources.

• If you would like further information about talking with your child about surgery or would like to attend the Pre-op Tour held on Sunday afternoons, please call (512) 324-0146.
• For specific questions about your child’s surgical procedure, call your doctor’s office.
• For questions about the actual day of surgery, please call (512) 324-0124.