COMMON QUESTIONS PRIOR TO SURGERY:
- Blood Thinners – Any blood thinning medication will increase blood loss during surgery and can increase rates of complications. General guidelines are to stop any medication or substance that inhibits clot formation a minimum of 5 days prior to surgery and not restart until at least 2 days after surgery. This helps to limit bleeding during and immediately after surgery. Excessive bleeding during and after surgery can lead to complications some of which can be serious. One exception to the rule is a daily baby aspirin which can continue without interruption. Specific medications include Coumadin/warfarin, Xarelto, NSAIDs such as Motrin/ibuprofen, Aleve/ naproxen and related medications, regular strength aspirin, ginko biloba supplements, and any other medications or supplements that result in thinner blood.
- Diabetic medications – Medicines for diabetes lower blood sugar. When fasting, these medications can cause abnormally low blood sugar, so these should not be taken while fasting for surgery. These include insulin, metformin, and any other diabetic medication used to control blood sugar.
- Certain Blood Pressure Medications – The ACE Inhibitor class of blood pressure medicines causes a very low blood pressure when combined with anesthesia. These medications usually have a generic name that ends in “PRIL”. Examples are lisinopril, captopril, enalapril. These should not be taken the dose prior to surgery. If taken in the morning, do not take the morining of surgery. If taken in the evening, do not take the evening prior to surgery. Other blood pressure medications should be taken normally.
You should not eat or drink after midnight the night preceeding your surgery unless instruced differently by the hospital in your presurgical phone call. Your morining medications can be taken with a small sip of water.
Surgery times are set by the hospital after reviewing surgeon block time and equipment needs. You will be contacted by the hospital the business day prior to your surgery and will be told what time to arrive for surgery. We cannot guarantee any particular surgical time regardless of age, diabetic status or preference as surgeon and equipment availability dictate the surgical schedule.
When you are contacted by the hospital or surgery center about your surgery time, they will explain where to go for surgery. The addresses of each location are:
Mountain West Surgical Center 1551 S Renaissance Towne Dr Suite 200 Bountiful, UT 84010 (801) 383-1111 | Lakeview Hospital 620 East Medical Dr Bountiful, UT 84010 (801) 299-2200 | Davis Hospital 1600 West Antelope Drive Layton, Utah 84041 (801) 807-1000 |
Time off from work after surgery is variable. It largely depends on the type of surgery that was done and the type of work you do. If you will require more than a couple of weeks off, most workplaces have short term disability programs. These generally require paperwork to be filled out by you and then certain sections to be filled out by our office. These forms can be lengthy, so to help us get our part done in a timely manner, please fill out your sections thoroughly. Once we have your paperwork, it can take up to 10 business days to get our part completed. If your sections are incomplete, that time will be longer.
Prior authorization for spine surgery has become increasingly complex. Often, we must submit clinic notes to the insurance company and wait for some predetermined minimum time set by them. Other times, the request goes into peer review and we have to discuss the case doctor to doctor with your insurance. Sometimes, further conservative care will be required before authorization will be considered. Realize we have no interest in delaying your surgery and are doing all we can to expedite the authorization, however, your insurer is not always of the same mindset. Feel free to contact them directly and urge them to work faster on their end.
PATIENT REVIEWS
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The BEST hands down! I’ve been working with Dr. Weston & Dr. Stephens for the past two years. Their staff is thorough as well as friendly and genuinely caring. I began with pain management for my neck and lower back […]RaNee Jones2 months ago
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The Staff, Assistants, Techs, Nurses and Doctors are some of the best, kindest and caring anywhere I have been. It’s true that they are very busy, work long, hard hours and have to deal with some pretty rude people. These […]R Stinson3 months ago
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My wife and I recently met with Dr. Stevens’s PA, Dawn to discuss the issue with my lower back. After my X-Rays were evaluated, I had several questions and she spent a considerable amount of time answering each one, explaining […]James Wright8 months ago
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I am a long time cyclist. Last fall I started the LOTOJA 206 mile one day race. I had trained well and was ready. Unfortunately my right leg was going numb at about 60 miles. I was able get to […]Gary Barney8 months ago
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I needed help with my cervical neck pain and gave Mountain Pain and Spine a call. I was recently diagnosed with cervical degenerative disc disease which has caused me severe neck pain and radiating arm pain. I was referred to […]Dave Greer9 months ago
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Prior to my appointment I read a ton of reviews for Dr. Stevens and was surprised at all the people who expected to meet with a surgeon and gain a friend. He didn’t hug me when I walked in. He […]Matt Entwistlea year ago
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After 3 prior spine surgeries I found myself needing a new spine surgeon for #4. It’s hard to trust your health and back to a new provider. As a nurse, myself, i look for expert skill and a caring bedside […]Mindy Devaneya month ago
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Dr. Stevens fixed me up. After having surgery somewhere else I was in bad shape. I had a herniated disk with nerve impingement and was losing the strength and feeling in my leg and had to go into surgery in […]Jamesa year ago
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I brought my mom in a few months ago to see josh the pa . I appreciated that he was very caring and compassionate . He took the time to discuss the options. He wanted to get to the root […]Lucy Barnetta year ago
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I needed help with my cervical neck pain and gave Mountain Pain and Spine a call. I was recently diagnosed with cervical degenerative disc disease which has caused me severe neck pain and radiating arm pain. I was referred to […]Amie Greer8 months ago
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