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In Collaboration With Your Excision Surgeon

ELYSARA operates as a supportive wellness and recovery center that complements — not replaces — surgical and medical care.

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Our RNs, Nurse Practitioners and Physician–led consultations are designed to align with your surgeon’s treatment plan, providing additional structured support before and after excision surgery.

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We do not perform surgical procedures and do not interfere with your physician’s clinical recommendations. Instead, we focus on patient education, recovery support, and whole-body stabilization within a collaborative care model.

Preparing for Excision Surgery 

Preparing for endometriosis surgery involves more than marking a date on the calendar. At ELYSARA, we help you understand your care plan, organize your questions, and prepare for recovery in collaboration with your excision surgeon.

Your pre-operative support may include a review of your symptoms and health history, nutrition and hydration guidance, discussion of appropriate labs or medical concerns, pelvic and movement support, and a plan for the help you may need at home. We can also help you think through work, family responsibilities, and follow-up care.

 

Services are tailored to you; an IV infusion or other treatment although not a routine requirement for surgery helps fortify your body for hydration and essential vitamins & minerals.

 

Your surgeon and anesthesia team direct your surgical preparation, including medicines, bowel preparation, and when to stop eating and drinking. ELYSARA’s role is to help you feel informed, supported, and ready for the next step.

In the weeks before surgery

  • Confirm the date, location, arrival time, expected length of stay, and whom to call with questions.

  • Complete any requested pre-operative visits, tests, forms, and medical clearances.

  • Give the surgical and anesthesia teams a current list of all prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, herbs, supplements, and allergies. Mention blood thinners, diabetes or weight-loss medicines, including GLP-1 medicines, and any previous problems with anesthesia.

  • Ask which medicines and supplements to continue, change, or stop—and when. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

  • Ask whether you need bowel preparation or any other surgery-specific preparation. Do it only if your surgeon instructs you to.

  • Discuss your goals and questions with your surgeon, including possible treatment of disease involving the bowel, bladder, or other organs; fertility considerations; pain control; and what findings could change the surgical plan.

  • Arrange an adult to take you home if you will be discharged the same day. Ask whether someone should stay with you afterward.

  • Plan help with children, pets, meals, transportation, and time away from work. Set up a comfortable recovery space at home.

  • Schedule your surgical follow-up and ask when ELYSARA or your other clinicians should receive an update.

The day before surgery

  • Recheck your arrival time and the surgical team’s instructions for food, drinks, medicines, and any prescribed bowel preparation.

  • Shower or use a special cleanser if instructed. Follow the directions for that cleanser.

  • Pack your identification, insurance information, medication list, relevant paperwork, glasses case, and any equipment the hospital asked you to bring, such as a CPAP device.

  • Call the surgical team if you develop fever, respiratory symptoms, vomiting, a new health concern, or a problem completing the preparation.

On surgery day

  • Follow your anesthesia team’s exact instructions about when to stop eating and drinking. Do not assume that everyone must fast from midnight.

  • Take only the medicines you were specifically told to take that morning, exactly as directed.

  • Wear loose, comfortable clothes. Follow your facility’s instructions about makeup, lotions, jewelry, piercings, and contact lenses; leave valuables at home.

  • Arrive at the assigned time with your support person’s contact information.

  • Tell the team about any change in your health, any medicine or supplement you took, or anything you ate or drank outside the instructions. Ask remaining questions before signing consent.

  • Before discharge, make sure you and your support person understand your medicines, activity and wound-care instructions, warning signs, and follow-up plan.

Getting Your Home Ready For Post-Excision Surgery

You do not need to buy everything on this list. Gather what you already have, choose what would make your first few days easier, and follow your surgeon’s discharge instructions for your specific operation.

Handy comfort kit for the first few days

  • Gas-X or generic simethicone: Ask your surgeon whether you may use it for bloating or intestinal gas, and follow the approved dose.

  • A soft heating pad or warm pack: Ask where and when you may use it. Keep a layer of fabric between the pack and your skin, and do not place it over incisions.

  • A small pillow: Hold it gently against your abdomen for the car ride, coughing, or changing position.

  • Throat lozenges: These may soothe a sore throat after a breathing tube. Use them once you are fully awake and allowed to eat or drink.

  • Peppermint or another favorite caffeine-free tea: A warm drink may be comforting once your team says you can drink.

  • A nausea plan: Ask before discharge whether you will have an anti-nausea prescription and what to do if you cannot keep fluids or medicines down.

  • A bowel-care plan: Ask whether to have a stool softener or laxative at home, particularly if you are prescribed an opioid pain medicine. Use the product your team recommends.

  • Pads and loose, high-waisted clothing: Keep a few within easy reach in case of light bleeding or abdominal tenderness.

  • A long phone charger, water bottle, and medication log: Set these beside your resting place so essentials are easy to reach.

Call your surgical team rather than treating new, severe, or worsening pain as “just gas.” Follow the warning signs and contact numbers on your discharge paperwork.

Comfort and everyday essentials

  • Loose clothing and underwear that will not press on abdominal incisions

  • Slip-on shoes or shoes that are easy to put on

  • A few pillows to support a comfortable resting position; a small pillow may also feel helpful against your abdomen during the ride home

  • A bedside basket for your phone, charger, water, glasses, medicines, and discharge papers

  • A thermometer

  • Menstrual pads, in case your surgical team says to expect light vaginal bleeding

Food and drinks

  • Easy-to-prepare meals or a few portions made ahead

  • Simple snacks you enjoy and can tolerate

  • Water bottle or cup you can keep nearby

  • Groceries for other household members, so you do not need to shop right away

Follow the diet instructions you receive at discharge. If surgery involves the bowel, your food plan may be different.

Medicines and recovery supplies

  • Prescribed medicines picked up or a plan for someone to collect them

  • A written list of each medicine, its dose, and when to take it

  • Any dressings or wound-care supplies your surgical team specifically recommends

  • A bowel-care medicine only if your surgical team recommends it; ask which product to use and when to start

  • A notebook or phone note for questions, symptoms, and your follow-up appointment

Do not start new pain medicines, supplements, laxatives, or creams on your incisions without checking your discharge instructions or care team.

Help to arrange before you leave for surgery

  • A responsible adult to take you home

  • Someone available to help during the first day, as your surgical team recommends

  • Help with children, pets, cooking, laundry, and errands

  • A clear path through your home so you can move around safely

  • The surgeon’s office and after-hours phone numbers saved in your phone

 

Before you leave the hospital or surgery center: Make sure you know how to care for your incisions, what activity is allowed, when to call about a symptom, and whom to contact after hours. Your discharge instructions are your personal recovery guide.

This is a handy post-surgery booklet for the time immediately following surgery.  Just click to open it. 

This is a handy pre-surgery checklist to help you make sure you have everything ready for your surgery. Just click to open it. 

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