Please be well rested and eat a good breakfast on the day of surgery.

Do not drink any alcoholic beverages for 24 hours before the procedure as it causes increased bleeding.

Shampoo your hair before surgery, as your initial dressing will have to remain dry for the first 24-48 hours.

Length of the procedure varies depending on the size and location of the skin cancer and the type of reconstruction to be done. Although the average time is 5-7 hours, you should plan on spending the entire day in our office. Please do not schedule any other appointments that day.

It is a good idea to wear loose fitting clothing and avoid pullover tops.

If the operative site is on the face, please do not wear makeup.

Infrequently, patients are quite anxious about their treatment for which we can give anti-anxiety medications (such as Ativan). If you think you may require such medicines, please be sure to arrange for someone to drive you home.

Some medications will need to be stopped prior to this procedure. Please review the Recommendations for blood thinning medications:
https://scscpdx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Medication-Instructions.pdf

We ask that you limit the number of people accompanying you because of the limited space in our waiting room.

We recommend bringing a book or some sort of activity as there will be waiting time throughout the day. We do also have Wi-Fi in our waiting area. The password is available at our front desk.