Now, let's discuss what will happen on the day of your procedure.

At your scheduled time, you will be taken to a pre-procedure room. Healthcare professionals will greet and assist you if needed, as you change into a gown and lie on a bed. Your privacy will be maintained at all times and the staff will make every effort to keep you warm and comfortable.

To prepare you, your healthcare professional will first make sure that you have an intravenous or IV. You will be given drugs and fluids through your IV throughout the procedure.

Sometimes a special IV, called an arterial line, may be placed in an artery - usually in your right wrist, to check your blood pressure continuously throughout the procedure.

Patches also need to be applied to the skin of your chest, arms or legs for electrocardiogram, or EKG. An EKG records the electrical activity of your heart.

It is difficult to give the exact amount of time that you will spend in the pre-procedure room. Usually the time is short but it depends on what is happening at the facility the day that you are there. Also, there may be other patients in the room with you, waiting for their procedures to begin.

Your doctor will be available to answer any last minute questions that you may have, and your family or friends may be able to stay with you until it is your time to go to the procedure room.