Call 911 right away if you have:
- Trouble breathing or chest pain
- A seizure
- Sudden weakness, numbness, or drooping on one side of your face or body
- Sudden trouble speaking, seeing, or understanding
- Confusion, or being very sleepy and hard to wake up
- A lot of swelling in the front of your neck, or you can't swallow your spit (after neck surgery)
- New loss of control of your bladder or bowels, or numbness in your groin (after back surgery)
Call our office if you have:
- A fever of 101°F (38.3°C) or higher, or chills
- Signs of infection at the incision: spreading redness, swelling, warmth, or thick or bad-smelling drainage
- Clear, watery fluid leaking from the incision, or from your nose after brain surgery
- A headache that keeps getting worse, especially if it is worse when you sit up
- New or worse weakness, numbness, or tingling in your arms or legs
- Pain that your medicine does not help
- Pain, swelling, or redness in your calf. This can be a sign of a blood clot.
- Throwing up that does not stop, or you can't keep liquids down
- No bowel movement for 3 days
How to reach us
Call 641-428-7847. If our office is closed, follow the phone message to reach the doctor on call.
When you call, have these ready:
- The name of your surgery and the date it was done
- Your temperature, if you have a fever
- Your list of medicines
- The phone number of your pharmacy
If you are not sure if it is an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. It is always OK to get help.
Your care team's instructions come first.This page is general information. If anything here is different from what your surgeon or nurse told you, follow their instructions.