nurse jean™ Book Example 2:

Is there anything a patient can do to prepare for surgery to help improve the outcome?

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of people in this country. Due to genetics, age, sex and ethnicity, there are some risk factors that we have no control over. The vast majority of adults know the risk factors that we do have control over, yet we tend to ignore our responsibility in managing them. They are smoking, inactivity, diet, and management of hypertension, diabetes, and reducing stress.

Before you develop any symptoms, start walking every day for at least 30 minutes. Stop smoking, yesterday! So many of the patients who resumed smoking after their surgery ended up having to repeat their surgeries that I couldn't help but wonder what the national statistics are on repeat surgeries and control of known risk factors. I'd bet there is a significant correlation.

Another thing you can do to help control your risk factors is to stay involved socially. Research is pretty convincing that by staying linked to people in an activity that is important to you helps keep us well.

One patient told me he asked his doctor what he should do to get ready for surgery and all he was told was, "Just be at the hospital by 5:30 a.m." The doctor failed to tell this man to stop taking his cortisone prior to the surgery. This patient had a suppressed immune system from the cortisone which resulted in a massive postoperative wound infection. He spent over 60 days in the hospital.

Another spouse shared that people should be told that many patients become really short-tempered after this type of surgery. She admitted she was very overprotective of her husband when she got him home and it made him so angry he threw a cup of hot water at her, something completely out of character for him.

Many patients strongly recommend that you purchase a recliner before you go to the hospital. Some say they were never told that it isn't a good idea to lay flat, but they learned that they shouldn't. Besides it is much easier to get up out of a recliner than it is to get out of bed.

A female patient said, "I wish I could have seen a movie or had someone to talk to me or a book to tell me what to expect. I didn't know what to expect and I really felt like a second-class citizen. Even the doctor, who we got to know well, at times treated me like I was a nuisance. Some of them can be so arrogant it just makes me furious. I am numb to this day, six years later, from my knee to my groin on my inner thigh and no one told me I might experience that."

One man was almost paralyzed with fear about having anesthesia. When this man was young he played football, was hit in the throat and couldn't breathe for a few moments. He thought he would suffocate. Later in life, while serving in the Navy, he got trapped under water and relived the same fear of not being able to breathe. The thought of having a tube in his airway paralyzed him with fear. His surgeon suggested hypnosis. While "under," the suggestion was made that he think of the endotracheal tube as something that would keep his airway open and clear. This patient was then able to proceed to surgery, minus the fear of suffocation.

Another man was frightened at just the thought of having surgery. His surgeon knew this patient was in a loving, supportive relationship and that he also had a deep love of poetry. His wife wanted to do something to help her husband get through this but she knew she couldn't be in the operating room during the procedure. She asked the doctor if she could record on tape some of her husband's favorite poems so he could hear them throughout his surgery. She separated each poem with an encouraging statement and was sure to tell him how much she loved him. The anesthesiologist made certain the earphones were on before he anesthetized the patient. Those of us in healthcare know that hearing is the last sense to go, and I for one believe that what this wife did for her husband certainly didn't hurt him.

Another woman said, "Be prepared to wear different clothes for a while. Loose fitting, easy to put on and take off garments work the best. I think that with all you go through your tolerance for even little unexpected surprises goes way down."