QUESTIONS BEFORE ANY SURGERY

Never put much confidence in such, as put no confidence in others. A man prone to suspect evil is mostly looking in his neighbour for what he sees in himself. As to the pure all things are pure, even so to the impure all things are impure. Before agreeing to have surgery, ask questions about your condition and the treatment options.

You might want to bring family members or friends with you to ask questions of their own, especially if they'll be helping you recover. The confidence in another man's virtue is no light evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favours such a confidence.

It's your body, it's your disease. You should feel comfortable asking those questions before you enter into something as major as surgery. No man or woman has achieved an effective personality who is not self-disciplined. Such discipline must not be an end in itself, but must be directed to the development of resolute personality.

WHAT YOU COULD ASK BEFORE ANY SURGERY.

Are you board-certified to perform this procedure?

Board certification means surgeons are considered qualified to perform a specific type of operation.

They are recognised by the institution as well as the national organising body for that speciality as having met all the important standards for practice, competency and background. It is a marker of someone, who is trying to stay abreast of the knowledge and the changes in health care in their speciality.

One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.

Will it help if I lose weight before the operation?

Extra pounds can boost the risk of complications, although exercise isn't advisable for all patients scheduled to undergo surgery.

It can also be helpful to build strength before a procedure. Just like an athlete, you're going to perform better if you're in better shape and your strength is better. Surgery is a major event, a physiologic injury and you have to be able to respond to that.

You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn't enough, in the second half, you have to give what is left.

Does it matter if I'm a smoker?

Smoking can increase the risk of complications from surgery, and quitting smoking just a few weeks before an operation can make a difference.

Smoking has significant negative impacts on almost all surgical procedures. The nicotine and many of the compounds in tobacco smoke constrict the small blood vessels. You need those blood vessels to be open to bring blood down to the level of the healing wound.

Have you ever watched a stonecutter at work? He will hammer away at a rock for perhaps a 100 times without a crack showing in it. Then, on the 101st blow, it will split in two. It is not that blow alone which accomplished the result, but the 100 others that went before as well.

What if I have sleep apnea?

Make sure your surgeon knows if you have sleep apnea, because the sleep disorder has been connected to higher rates of complications after surgery. If you use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, you might be advised to bring it with you.

Things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.

A lot of institutions now are so concerned about sleep apnea that they actually screen for it in the postoperative period in the recovery room. If [certain patients] are at high risk for undiagnosed sleep apnea, there should be protocols in place to admit them overnight for observation in a more intense care area, such as monitored care. Or to have them evaluated in the hospital for sleep apnea and intervene earlier.

Is there anything you can do to shorten my hospital stay?

You might be able to undergo a less invasive procedure with less recovery time. And improvements in care, such as less catheter use and limited use of painkillers, might help patients recover more quickly in the hospital room.

If your efforts are sometimes greeted with indifference, don't lose heart. The sun puts on a wonderful show at daybreak, yet most of the people in the audience go on sleeping.

Ensure to get your body back to its normal state as soon as possible. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.