Preparation

How to prepare for a carotid endarterectomy

Stop smoking (if you smoke) before having a carotid endarterectomy.

Smoking increases your risk of getting a chest infection and slows down your recovery.

Pre-admission clinic

About a week or so before your operation, you'll be asked to attend a pre-admission clinic. This is to make sure you're well enough for the operation to go ahead.

At this appointment, your doctor or nurse may:

ask about your medical history and any medicines you're taking - if you're taking a medicine to help prevent blood clots, such as warfarin, your doctor may advise you to stop taking it temporarily
do some tests, such as blood tests, blood pressure checks and an electrocardiogram (ECG) to record the electrical activity of your heart

You may also meet the healthcare team involved in your care so you can learn more about the operation. You can ask questions about the procedure and your recovery.

Prepare for recovering at home

It's a good idea to prepare for when you get home after the operation.

You might want to think about:

how you're going to get home after the operation
who will look after you for the first day or so while you recover
talking to your employer about returning to work (if you work)

Find out more about what to do before having surgery

Sexual Health Advice

Throughout this series we have help and advice on staying healthy, dealing with Sexually Transmitted Infections, the risks of each type of the most popular gay sex and what to do if the sex you have is not consentual. The topics covered in this series include:

	This item was in brought to you association with NHS website. Follow the links above for more information and don't forget to check out OutUK's A to Z of Gay Health which features items on everything from relationships, sexual health, mental and physical conditions and how to stay fit. This week our topic is: L - Lung Cancer.
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