Your Child’s Surgery

Having surgery can be an overwhelming time for parents and children. At Mary Bridge Children’s, we want to make that experience as stress-free as possible. Here you will find useful information regarding your child’s surgery.

Important tips prior to surgery

• Call your insurance company to make sure the surgery is covered under your plan.
• Please call your surgeon’s office if your child has any cold symptoms, such as a runny nose, fever or any change from his or her usual health. Also, notify the office if your child has been exposed to or has any infectious diseases such as MRSA, tuberculosis, measles, mumps or chickenpox.

• Please bring your insurance card or medical coupon with you on the day of surgery.
• On the day of surgery, your child must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Please bring any legal papers for custody or guardianship, as well as legal papers giving consent for surgery, if you are not a parent with legal custody.
• The parent or guardian must remain at the hospital during the child’s stay. In order to focus on your child’s surgery, it may be easier to make care arrangements for siblings.
• If your surgeon tells you that your child might possibly stay overnight, please pack a bag for both you and your child.
• Please bring any special equipment needed to help care for your child, such as a wheelchair, braces or supplies for a feeding tube.
• Please bring a list of any medications your child is currently taking and indicate when the last dose was given.

What to bring to make your child more comfortable

Find out what to bring for your child’s surgery and hospital stay at Mary Bridge Children’s.

Where to stay

You are welcome to stay overnight with your child. A chair bed with linens is available for one adult to sleep at their child’s bedside in the medical-surgical units. Kitchens and showers are also available.

Mary Bridge Children’s also offers discounted room rates at some local hotels.

The day before surgery

You will be called the afternoon or evening before surgery to confirm your arrival time and eating and drinking instructions. Please make sure that your pre-admit paperwork includes a working phone number where you can be reached. If you have not heard from us by 5pm the day prior to your child’s scheduled surgery, please call us at 253-403-9569, or page the Mary Bridge Children’s house supervisor at 877-511-3912.

Eating and drinking instructions

For the safety of your child, it is very important that you follow the feeding instructions. It is possible that your child’s surgery may be canceled or delayed if instructions are not followed. When our staff calls you the day before surgery, they will give specific information on when to stop solid foods, breast milk and clear liquids. Breast milk is different from formula, so you may breastfeed your child until closer to the arrival time. We will give you a specific time when we call you the day before surgery.

The day of surgery

Dress your child in comfortable, loose-fitting clothing. Favorite toys, stuffed animals, games, blankets and other personal items can be brought to Mary Bridge Children’s to make your child feel more comfortable during their procedure. Please be aware the hospital cannot be responsible for items brought to Mary Bridge Children’s, and valuables should be left at home. Please remove all jewelry and piercings, nail polish and makeup prior to arrival. If your child wears contact lenses or glasses, please bring the proper case to put them in during surgery.

Parking

Parking is available anywhere designated as visitor parking at a MultiCare/Mary Bridge Children’s facility. Look for the P1 and P2 parking garage signs at our Tacoma hospital campus. If you park at the Baker Center, please bring your ticket with you for validation. (Validation is not available for the Kaiser Permanente parking facility.)

Learn more about parking at Mary Bridge Children’s.

Where to go

You will receive a phone call the night before surgery with instructions for checking in for your child’s surgery at one of our surgery locations:

• Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital Ambulatory Care Unit (ACU) located on the fifth floor of the Milgard Pavilion
• MultiCare Gig Harbor Medical Park – Surgery and Procedure Center, Suite 160, located on the first floor

When you arrive for surgery

• After checking in, you and your child will be taken to an admission room. Your child will change into hospital pajamas, and a nurse will check your child’s vital signs and get an update on their health status.
• Before going to the operating room, most children are given an oral medicine. Your anesthesiologist will determine the type of medicine that is best for your child. The medicine may make your child sleepy and unsteady. For the safety of your child, we ask that once the medicine is given, your child not walk around independently.  Learn more about anesthesia.
• You will have the opportunity to speak to the surgeon and anesthesiologist and ask questions or discuss the procedure before your child goes to surgery.
• Once your child has gone into surgery, we will take you to the waiting area where your child’s surgeon will look for you once the surgery is over.