Things to do before your surgery in Brisbane
Plan your transport, medicines and home around the instructions for your operation.
Before your surgery in Brisbane, organise a driver, help at home and the things you’ll need for admission. Read the instructions Dr Georgina Konrat gives you and check your fasting and arrival times. Dr Konrat’s instructions for your operation come first; this is the checklist around them.
Work through the list in date order: arrangements with other people, supplies for home, then the morning of surgery. Our Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic rooms are at 45 Denham Street in Annerley; keep our phone number with your admission details.
In short: Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic asks for a responsible person to drive you to and from hospital and someone to stay for the first few days at home. Your fasting time is on your pre-operative instructions; ANZCA’s general guide is at least six hours without solid food or non-clear fluids before general anaesthesia or intravenous sedation. Report illness to the hospital in the three days before surgery, as Better Health Channel advises, and call 07 3391 5710.
Once your surgery date is booked
At Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic, start by discussing medicines and smoking with Dr Georgina Konrat, then arrange your driver and help at home before admission.
Ask about your medicines
Tell Dr Georgina Konrat about previous cosmetic procedures, steroid use, current medicines and illnesses, including diabetes. Bring that information to your discussion. Aspirin and ibuprofen can interfere with clotting and prolong healing; Dr Konrat decides whether to adjust a dose or discuss another option. Don't set a stopping date or change a dose yourself.
Discuss smoking with Dr Konrat
ANZCA's advice on smoking and anaesthesia says stopping smoking for one day lowers blood nicotine and carbon monoxide levels, around three weeks improves wound healing, and six to eight weeks improves lung function and phlegm levels towards those of non-smokers. These are general findings. Dr Konrat confirms what applies to you.
Confirm your driver and support
Arrange a responsible person to drive you to and from hospital and someone to stay for the first few days to help with daily tasks. Say you've booked surgery for a Thursday and your partner works that day: who's driving, and who's staying with you? Confirm both people the week before, not the night before.
Finish errands before admission
Fill the prescriptions you've been given and buy groceries before surgery, then put food and other supplies within reach of where you'll rest. Our guide to how to prepare for cosmetic surgery covers further preparations to discuss with Dr Konrat.
Before the day of admission
Set up the place where you’ll rest, then check your fasting time and pack your bag. Report illness when it appears.
Set up your recovery space
What goes beside the bed? Pillows, books or films. Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic suggests frozen peas to reduce inflammation and swelling; follow Dr Konrat's directions for your operation. Have food and prescribed medicines ready, and show your support person where you've put them.
Read your fasting instructions
For elective procedures under general anaesthesia or intravenous sedation, ANZCA's fasting guidance says to stop solid food and non-clear fluids at least six hours beforehand. Milk and most fruit juices are non-clear fluids. Your exact fasting time is on your admission paperwork; don't substitute the general figure for it.
Pack what you need
Better Health Channel advises bringing comfortable clothes, a charged mobile, usual medicines in their original packaging, glasses or hearing aids, and relevant test results or X-rays for day surgery. Pack these with your pre-operative forms and check any additional items Dr Konrat has asked you to bring.
On the morning of surgery
Follow the fasting and arrival times on your pre-operative forms, and keep the bag you’ve packed beside the clothes you’ll wear.
Shower and leave products off
Shower and wash your hair on the morning of surgery. Don't apply make-up, creams, lotions, hair gel or spray, perfume or deodorant. Remove nail polish and acrylic nails, and leave jewellery and piercings off for admission.
Choose clothes and glasses
Wear loose clothes such as a shirt that buttons at the front, soft track pants and slip-on shoes. Take contact lenses out and wear glasses. Put your chosen clothes beside your packed belongings so they're ready when you get dressed.
Check your admission time
Your admission paperwork gives the time you need to arrive. Arrange to arrive early, and confirm the trip with your driver before you leave. Bring the forms so you have the instructions and admission details with you.
Before any of this: the steps to a surgery date
If you’re still planning, Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic follows this sequence under the Medical Board of Australia’s guidelines for cosmetic surgery.
- First, get a GP referral. Bring it to your first appointment.
- Have your first consultation, the first of at least two consultations before surgery.
- Have your second consultation, in person or by video call, making sure that at least one of the two consultations is in person with Dr Konrat.
- Sign the consent forms. Never sign at the first consultation; the seven days start after both consultations are complete and the forms are signed.
- Wait at least seven days. Use this week to talk over why you want surgery with your GP.
- Book after the wait. Once the seven days are up, we book your date and take a deposit. Before then, you pay for consultations and nothing else.
Our consultation guide explains what happens at these appointments.
What if you're unwell before surgery?
Better Health Channel says to tell the hospital if, in the three days before surgery, you develop fever, a sore throat, cough or breathing problems, rash or swelling, a cut or break in your skin, diarrhoea or vomiting, or feel generally unwell. Also call Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic on 07 3391 5710, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm, to report a cold or illness before surgery. Dr Konrat decides what this means for your procedure.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take my usual medicines on the morning of surgery?
Ask Dr Konrat about the morning dose rather than deciding from this checklist. ANZCA says to tell the anaesthetist or pre-admission team as soon as possible about diabetes or weight-loss medicines that slow stomach emptying, because different fasting instructions may be needed. Don’t change your medicine yourself.
Can I take a taxi home after day surgery?
Arrange a responsible person to drive you to and from hospital. For day surgery such as upper eyelid surgery at Brisbane Cosmetic Clinic, a taxi, Uber or public transport isn’t an option, and a responsible adult must stay with you for the first 24 hours. Confirm the driver and the person staying before admission.
When can I shower again after surgery?
The shower on the morning of surgery doesn’t set your showering routine afterwards. A nurse will advise you when showering can resume at your post-operative appointment. Keep Dr Konrat’s instructions available at home, and raise questions about washing with the clinic rather than choosing a time from general preparation advice.
What changes should I report before admission?
Better Health Channel advises reporting pregnancy, a new medical problem, a change in medicine or the loss of your support person early. These changes need reporting even if you don’t feel ill. Tell the hospital about changed circumstances and let us know if your arrangements for admission or help at home have changed.
All surgical procedures carry risks; results vary. Read the general risks of cosmetic surgery alongside the information Dr Konrat gives you about your operation.
All surgeries carry risks. Please seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner before proceeding. For more information regarding surgical risks, please visit our website: https://www.brisbanecosmetic.com.au/general-risks-complications-of-cosmetic-surgery/
Dr Georgina Konrat | MED0001407863
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
Fellow of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery and Medicine (FACCSM)
Registered Medical Practitioner | General Registration
Book a consultation: https://www.brisbanecosmetic.com.au/book-online
Keep your instructions ready for home
Keep Dr Konrat’s instructions where you and your support person will find and read them at home. Read the aftercare page next, before your admission date.
Not sure where to start?
Get in Touch.
Call us on 07 3391 5710 or request a callback using the form below.
Thank you, we have your details
Our team will be in touch, usually within one business day. If your enquiry is urgent, please call the clinic on 07 3391 5710 during clinic hours, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm.