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This is where you'll meet your surgical team (the anesthesiologist, surgeon, and nurses). The holding area is just outside the operating room. Some hospitals allow one visitor to stay with you here until you go to the operating room.
A checklist—the Safe Surgery Checklist—will be done. You’ll be asked to confirm your name, if you have allergies, and your health history a few times before surgery. The checklist is done for your safety.
Once the checklist is done you may have an epidural (a small tube used to give medicine to relieve pain) placed in your back. The anesthesiologist will give you medicine (a general anesthetic) to make you comfortable and keep you asleep during the surgery.
Your family/friends can wait for you here. The waiting room may have a tracking system so your family can keep track of where you are (for example: holding area, operating room, recovery room).
