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How to prepare for surgery

Author: Kristin Diller

June 27, 2017

Tips In Preparing For Surgery

Undergoing surgery can be scary. Whether that fear is from feeling like the control is out of your hands, the overall outcome, or just not knowing what to expect, going into a surgery worried and afraid isn’t going to help anything. In fact, it may just hurt a speedy recovery. The best thing you can do for yourself is to go into surgery prepared and confident. Easier said than done, right? How do you just get rid of fears? The solution is simple: Be Prepared.

Here are a few tips in preparing for surgery so you can be confident in a positive outcome and a successful recovery.

Talk Through Your Options

It’s easy to be afraid of surgery if you feel like there was an alternate solution that you hadn’t tried or discovered. If you feel like surgery isn’t the best option, it’s definitely something you should talk to your doctor about. They wouldn’t recommend a surgery if it wasn’t in your best interest, but sharing your concerns with them and having your questions answered will help to prepare you for what is to come.

Follow Pre-Surgery Prep Instructions

The most important way to be prepared for surgery is to follow the preparatory guides the doctors have laid out for you. There’s reasons for everything, why complicate a system that isn’t flawed? Doctors aren’t giving you guidelines to follow just for fun, they want what is best for you. So exercise, sleep, don’t smoke, hydrate, ect. Keep following the rules they’ve given you for leading up to the surgery, it’s worth it.

Educate Yourself

Now you may not be a doctor, but it doesn’t hurt to know what is going on. Do a little research, talk to your doctors about what is exactly happening in the procedure you will be receiving. Be aware of the different side effects or complications, but don’t let them deter you. Knowing what is going to happen will help to keep your mind from wandering to what “could” or “might” be. Plus, getting these details from the doctor reassures you they know what they are doing and talking about!

Surgery is never anyone’s first choice, if we could live healthy and happily without it, I think we all would! But surgery doesn’t have to be scary. Prepare yourself for what’s to come and go in with confidence instead of fears. Your surgical team can do this successfully, and so can you!