Bringing a friend in for surgery: Where can I wait to be with her?

@msch
I am a patient at Mayo Jacksonville.

I can comment on what Jacksonville has and should be similiar to Phoenix. Our surgery areas have a very large waiting room. When you come in with patient getting surgery they take you name and you phone number. The do a test text to you and tell you that is how they will keep you informed.

You will also get a number that corresponds to a huge electronic patient information board. If you stay in waiting room you will see your patients number and status (in prep, in surgery, in recovery, etc.). You can at any time talk to reception desk for more information.

If you want to leave waiting room you just notify desk and pay attention to your text on your phone. Why they asked you to notify them as many times the desk monitors will get specific information on the patient you are with and will bring that information to you or that the doctor is waiting in this room or that to talk to you.

This is Mayo Jacksonville. Hope that helped a little. Maybe those who are Phoenix Mayo patients can be more specific for what Phoenix has.

Being a friend when you are needed to assist with medical care is a meaningful event.
If you are are close the patient may want you to be party
to their medical discussion. Know beforehand about your role. Will you be listed as person to notify about their progress. Do they have someone listed as a surrogate in an emergency. Do they want you to advocate in any way or be included in HIPPA information.? Be sure to discuss this in advance and when they sign in with that day.

Thank you. I went with her for a scan-type procedure she needed that was just for the day, and what you described is what I experienced that day. That’s very helpful.

Thank you! Good advice.

Hi @msch. Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You are doing a wonderful and much needed thing for your friend through a tough process. Members have posted helpful advice from their experiences. I agree that the more you know, the more you walk through medical discussions with your friend…the better for everyone involved. Her doctors will be open to you to be an active participant and no doubt, will welcome questions you have.

I can speak to my experience as a Rochester Clinic patient and encourage you to talk through everything you can ahead of time with your friend. A friend has gone with me to appointments off and on over the years. She was assertive with me to find out how I felt about her participation in my appointments and if it would be ok for her to take notes on a notepad she brought. It was helpful for her bring these things up to me ahead of time because that was not where my head was at in those moments. We avoided the, “coulda shoulda” discussion following.

My experience being a plus-one for a friend, and then my husband surgeries at Mayo Rochester sounds a bit different than Jacksonville. I was given their bags of personal belongings when the patient was ready, and I found storage lockers available in the waiting room. Once I started feeling comfortable text updates on my phone were what was keeping me best informed I returned to our hotel close by. The waiting room was pretty quiet, not the big board @msch refers to in Jacksonville. My husband's partial nephrectomy took all day and I had time to walk back to the hospital once they alerted me, before he woke up. I forwarded the text updates I received on as I received them, to a group of friends and family he had set up ahead of time. I included him in the group and he liked going back to see the timeline of what happened while he was out.

When is your friend’s surgery scheduled?

Thank you for your response. She is scheduled for surgery Monday, June 9th. That also happened to be her birthday.
We live about 30-45 minutes from the Phoenix hospital so if I can’t see her that day, I will go home. But if there’s a chance I can see her, I’ll just stay.
I’m pretty sure she is going to try to make this as easy for ME as possible because that’s just what she does.
She’s arriving at our house tonight and I will impress on her how important it is to include me as much as she is comfortable with.

@msch, this is a great question. You are understandably a little nervous and wanting to be prepared to support your friend. Even as a caregiver on the day of surgery, you'll be in good hands at Mayo Clinic.

I'm tagging a few of our members who have had surgery at Mayo Clinic at the Arizona campus like @danab @babswel1 @mercuryrose @gratefulbob @estrada53 @azdan99 @scottij. I'm sure they'll have some more tips to share with you.

You'll also have some waiting and be looking for a place for peace and calm. @amylward writes a bit about the famous cactus gardens on campus. It is a great place to calm the nerves.
- Mayo Arizona - Cactus Garden https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-arizona-cactus-garden/

Thank you so much!

I'm six months out from my big, life-changing surgery. I loved ALL of the staff that I met during my 12 days at Mayo Phoenix. And I still marvel at the exceptional care I received all these months later. I won't tell you that healing isn't hard sometimes. I can tell you that Mayo Phoenix is a truly exceptional place. It's so different than any hospital I've ever experienced. And definitely visit the Cactus Garden! The staff took me and my IV pole out for a wheelchair ride one afternoon, and it helped so much!

Hi @msch, What a nice friend you are as its always nice to have someone there to be a familure face when your dealing with surgery. Mayo is very used to having someone to help with after surgery transportation and even there by your friend's side as they talk to the doctors. I had a few surgeries there and my wife was my caregiver and at times I think the staff thought she worked there. But mine was a few weeks long in recovery from a heart transplant. But as for a care giver Mayo not only welcomes them but, in some surgeries, its a requirement.

Do you know if it will be an overnight type of procedure? I'm not sure the rules on this part but my wife was allowed to stay overnight in this chair type reclining single bed of sorts. As for where to stay and receiving updates. I would ask what there patient # is and in the waiting rooms plus the cafeteria area there is a board that gives updates on the status of the procedures with like in surgery, in Recovery etc. I personally like to hang out in the cafeteria area when I'm there for appointments. The garden Colleen mentioned is straight out the front doors of the main Hospital Phx 1 Building. There are 3 buildings but the main one is where most of the surgeries take place.

It will be kind of warm as you know right now but there is a walking trail around the complex also.
Please ask any question you have as I was just up there in March for an appointment so I'm pretty familure with any changes.