All patients here get a bracelet as soon as you get help. It's 'insurance' for the hospital. Before doing *anything* to you, they verify who you are with your bracelet and their paperwork.

I don't know if it's normal or not, but I bet you don't want to wear it for so many days. I wouldn't. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

I had to go to the hospital for pre-op stuff ONE DAY before, and they did put on the name band at that time. I would not have liked to wear it a week in advance, though.

Be glad you have it...it'll help keep them from mixing you up with another patient, which has certainly happened before.

I broke my wrist, couple years ago, and had to have surgery.

Friend, in front of the nurse, put an X on the hand that needed to have surgery, just in case :o)

Sending you good luck thoughts, btw

Good luck with your knee replacement surgery. I had both knees replaced last Fall...12 weeks apart. My only regret was that I waited so long to do it. I have no pain whatsoever in either knee. What a relief!!

Have you spoken to your surgeon about the possibility of one leg ending up shorter than the other? The risk is greater if the leg of the knee replacement is bowed because when they straighten the bone, the leg could end up longer than the other.

Be sure to use the automatic knee bending machine as much as you can while in the hospital. It's a big help in gaining range of motion.

Anyway, good luck and if I can be of help, ask away.

Thanks for so many quick responses. I just was amazed when I found out I'd be wearing it for a week before surgery (My dr required me to go for the pre-op no later than today.) I'll just pretend it's a jeweled bracelet and wear it proudly. LOL

Glenda, I loved the X on the hand to make sure they had the correct one.

Shirley

I am wondering if they didn't mean to leave it on until you are discharged "today" for all your various testings & evaluations? It would seem odd to have the same patient number today with all "outpatient" charges, as you would have next week when the charges will be "inpatient". I think you will get a *new* arm-band with a new patient ID # next week. You might call & verify your understanding of leaving this arm-band on.

Good luck with your surgery.

Regarding the X.....

Actually that is not in & of itself a clear message. It could be interpreted ... "not this hand, leg, knee, whatever...."

A clearer message would be ... "NO" written on the non-operative side.

When DH had his knee replacement surgery, they gave him the marker to mark the affected knee, then the nurse, surgeon, & anesthetist ALL initialed the site also. This is not something trivial. The best hospitals/surgeons have these precautions in place. There was a recent story in local news of an elderly woman who had the wrong knee replaced. So amazing as it seems, it can happen... but it is absolutely an unconscionable & totally preventable mistake.

When I had my broken leg fixed, the doctor wrote "yes" on the leg to be operated on.

Gadgets, you can always draw a smiley face on the knee in need and write the words below it "Do me". I bet you'd get a good chuckle from the entire staff. :-)

Jodi-

Never heard of wearing a bracelet for a full week outside the hospital. I think Beeohio may be right about just for the day for the same reasons she gave.

When DS has had surgery on his knee he was given a pen to take home and told to right YES on the correct side in the morning before coming in for the surgery.

It's common practice for the doctor to mark the correct arm/leg/eye, etc., preoperatively.

Before an operation, they perform a formal time-out to make sure they have the right patient, the right doctor, the right site/side, etc.

Yes, when I was in (twice) for lithotripsy last fall, the drs marked my side while I was still awake, verifying with me that they'd marked the correct side. One dr. scribbled all over my right side. The other, wrote neatly (and much smaller) on my left, the next time I was in. But in both cases, I had to have a number of pre-tests, and no one put on a bracelet and told me to wear it until I'd had my procedure. It would seem a little excessive to ask someone to wear one of those things for a week, but hey, maybe that's the norm at the facility where you're going (and then one asks the question 'why'? Do patients often switch with others before hand? to 'steal' medical care? or hide drug use, perhaps?)

The nurse wrote a bunch of XXOOO XXOXOXOXOXOXXXXOOXXXO's on me the last time I was at the hospital!!

Okay, she didn't really write all of those hugs and kisses on me but if she was thinking about doing that I was too! Nurses, they're just so sexy! *wink*

Good Luck with your surgery Shirley, will miss you not being on your computer.

Sue

Thanks again for all the responses. I already verified while at the hospital yesterday that she meant leave on till next week when I'm released after surgery.

monabair, thanks for the info.

Shirley

Bedazzle it.

I wouldn't want to wear it for a week but you do what you have to do right? when I had lung surgery, my Beloved wrote a note to the doctor on my right boob........I have a picture somewhere ......don't remember what he said but it was funny and informative.........

I'd probably cut it off and then tape it back together and put it on before I went back in. Or stop in admissions and tell them I needed a new ID band. They can make another one.

Call the hospital and ask!

I'm pretty sure they meant for you to keep it on only for that day.

DH has had many surgeries the past few years. He gets the wristband for all the pre-op tests. He get a new one for the actual surgery.

Shirley, I apologize for my earlier post. I reread it and it sounds so ominous. I certainly didn't intend for it to cause you any concern about the leg length. Please forgive me if I've given you cause to worry.

Actually, knee replacement surgery has made so many advancements that you may experience discomfort rather than severe post-op pain.

Good luck; you'll be fine!!!

Mary C: They made it very clear that the bracelet is to remain on my wrist.

Monablair: You didn't 'scare' me. I'm an information person and always want to know all that I can find out ahead of time.

Shirley

Shirley, I'm sorry you have to deal with that annoyance for so long!

My DH's skin is so delicate and he bruises so easily that I would never allow a wristband to stay on for that long. I don't think his physician would either.

Cut it off! They can make you a new one when you get there. The last thing you want to do is bring a dirty arm-band into the OR! I'm not saying visibly dirty, but in a week we come in contact with many bugs that could cause you problems if they got into an open wound. The risk of cross-contamination, however slight, is there and you do not want a post-op infection. Cut it off .