Covid-19 – updated March 1, 2022
Covid-19 is a new type of virus, and continues to rapidly evolve. Like many strains of the common cold, it is in the coronavirus family. However, it is more severe than a cold or a flu in its impact, and is very highly contagious – spreading from person to person very easily. The alpha and delta variants were more severe, but the omicron variant can still affect people very significantly, particularly for those with other medical conditions. Omicron is the most contagious variety, so far.
Although COVID-19 targets the lungs primarily, COVID also affects the kidneys, heart, brain and even the skin. We don’t want you to get it (and we don’t want to get it either!)
Protecting you during your visits to us (consults, pre-ops, post-ops and medspa)
Dr. Fiala follows all the recommendations of the national plastic surgery societies (ASPS and the Aesthetic Society), as well as current CDC recommendations.
If you are fully vaccinated, and NOT having any symptoms:
- you do not have to wear a mask in the office, unless you wish to
- you may come with one other adult, who must be fully vaccinated and asymptomatic, as well
- you may wait in our waiting room (rather than waiting in your car)
If you are not yet fully vaccinated (2 shots + booster), and NOT having any symptoms:
- we kindly request that you wear a mask. We will mask up, too.
If you have symptoms of COVID (see list below), regardless of vaccination status:
- please reschedule your appointment until a later date, when you are well.
If you are having facial injections at the medspa:
- please continue to wear a mask during your procedure, as much as possible, due to the close proximity of the work being done. We will be wearing masks.
These measures can change on short notice, and are based on the COVID positivity rates in Seminole and Orange Counties remaining below 10%.
Other protective measures:
- We will continue to schedule appointments so as to maintain “social distancing” within the office, with a minimum of wait time. Please be understanding if your favorite time isn’t available.
- Unless you need physical assistance, please don’t bring extra unvaccinated guests, especially children, to your appointments.
- Please try to have any new patient forms completed before your arrival.
- You will see our team in scrubs and masks.
- Please feel free to sanitize your hands when you arrive. Grab a tissue, if you need it. You are also welcome to use any of our sinks in exam rooms for handwashing.
Symptoms of COVID
- Additionally, if you have any of the typical symptoms of COVID which are NEW, please call us to reschedule, and go to see your primary care physician. These symptoms include:
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- Fever (100.0F)
- Cough or other respiratory symptoms
- Shortness of breath
- Muscle aches/pain
- GI symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of taste or smell
- Conjunctivitis
- Chills / repeated shaking with chills
- Extreme fatigue
- Blue discoloration/ blisters of toes
- for Age > 65: confused, dizzy, falls, mental status changes
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- We enhanced our already high standard of cleaning, including disinfecting high-touch areas on a daily basis.
Getting ready for surgery in the COVID era
Having anesthesia and surgery if you have COVID increases your anesthesia risks significantly. There are also certain medical conditions that care known to put you at higher risk, should you develop COVID.
Since it can take well over a week to show symptoms, there is the possibility you could have COVID, and not know it yet. Also, about 50% of people who have COVID remain asymptomatic. And break-through infections can occur, even in the vaccinated population.
For the moment, this means we now have to test everyone for COVID, prior to surgery, even if you feel fine, regardless of vaccination status.
Currently, the swab test which collects samples from the nose or throat, and the saliva tests are thought to best for diagnosing COVID. Everybody will have to have this done within 3-4 days of their surgery date, and continuing diligent social distancing between the date of the test and the date of your surgery. Remember, the test is simply a “snapshot” of how you were on the day that you were tested. It doesn’t mean that you can’t pick up COVID the next day. Antibody testing may help to further determine whether you’ve had COVID in the past, but is still a “work in progress”. We recommend PCR testing – it is currently the most accurate.
Additionally, pre-op testings of labs and EKG’s will now have to be more current – less than 2 months old. But good news there, we will be instituting on-site blood draws and EKG’s for people that need to have these re-done.
After surgery, we will still want you to quarantine yourselves for about 10 days afterwards, to minimize the chance that you pick up COVID while still in the fresh post-op period.