Women
and Elective Surgery
Essential Information for a Trauma-Free Recovery
For
any woman choosing to undergo elective surgery, sensible planning
is only one aspect of overall readiness. In order to be most
effectively prepared, the decisions a woman makes subsequent
to her surgery date and in the days immediately following
will profoundly affect the overall quality of her recovery.
According to Dr. Christopher A. Foetisch, an orthopedic surgeon
who performs over 500 surgeries each year at Flower Hospital,
it has been his experience that one of the first missteps
some women make post-surgery is that they resist taking essential
pain medications by wrongly accepting a self-imposed stigma
equating medication with weakness, thereby compounding unnecessary
pain upon an already stressed and impaired body.
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Women
also frequently attempt to maintain their usual frenetic pace
as caregivers and multiple role-players both within and outside
of the home during those early days and weeks post-surgery.
Dr. Foetisch notes that women in general would fare better
and heal faster if they factored in outside assistance to
lessen their workload.
Yet another
consideration is the mental and emotional investment required
in committing oneself to daily exercise in order to regain
strength and full mobility. Perhaps the most defining characteristic
between a patient who recovers successfully and one who does
not is, "their determination to get well," says
Dr. Foetisch. Some patients approach the surgery experience
without the drive to do their part, "I do two hours of
work, but they must work for three months..." states
Foetisch.
Every
woman contemplating undergoing a reparative medical procedure
would do well to take an exhaustive and realistic pro-active
look at just how involved even the most minor elective surgeries
can be. Surgeries don't have to temporarily cripple women
emotionally or physically, and with good prior planning they
won't.
Curative Downtime: Restorative Measures
to Enhance the Healing Process
About
the Author:
Michele
Howe is a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly, FaithfulReader.com,
Aspiring Retail and has published over 900 articles/reviews.
She works as a manuscript critique editor for the Christian
Communicator and writes on women's health issues for the Toledo
Free Press, Monroe Journal, CBN.com, SingleMom.com, ParentSuperSite.com,
CatholicMom.com, and Radiant among other publications. Howe
has also published eight books for women including: Going
It Alone: Meeting the Challenges of Being a Single Mom ,
Prayers
for Homeschool Moms,
Prayers
for New and Expecting Moms,
Prayers
of Comfort and Strength,
Prayers
to Nourish a Woman's Heart,
Successful
Single Moms,
and Pilgrim
Prayers for Single Mothers.
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