Some Sites to See Before Undergoing Surgery
Whether you’re scheduled to be cut open or cleaned out or tucked in or stapled up, there’s nothing minor or routine about surgery. Accidents happen, even at the best hospitals, and deep down we all know it. Here are a couple of sites that can help reduce preop anxiety:
American College of Surgeons
https://www.facs.org
Background: The college certifies and represents some 56,000 surgeons, from brain specialists to foot doctors and everything in between. Its public information pages are meant for consumers considering or preparing to go under the knife.
What works: The organization poses the big questions up front: “What will be the likely result if you don’t have the operation?” and “Are there likely to be residual effects from the operation?” Translation: Do I really need to do this, and will I be able to dance (or play basketball, walk, have sex) afterward? In many cases, the answer to the first question is no--and ultimately, the site reminds, it’s the patient’s decision, not the doctor’s, whether to go ahead with any procedure. The site also gives details on 13 common surgeries, explaining what the doctor does and why.
What Doesn’t: It would be great to see a guide to investigating a surgeon. Just because a doctor has been “board certified” doesn’t mean he or she hasn’t had problems or significant complaints. Try the California Medical Board’s Web site (https://www.medbd.ca.gov) before allowing anyone to cut on you. And get yourself a couple of second opinions--from your family doctor, as well as another specialist. General practitioners are often more skeptical of procedures than the doctors who perform them for a living, researchers say. A doctor who knows you can also put the decision in the context of your health history and life.
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PreOp Guide
https://www.preopguide.com
Background: Dr. Robert A. Catania, a surgeon in Brown University’s medical school, wrote this guide while working as a resident, and he still uses it to prepare his patients for surgery.
What Works: Catania writes as if he’s been under the knife himself: “Surgery is really nothing more than a controlled injury, and your body responds as it would to any other stress ... you may feel very frightened or anxious.” You’ll feel less so after reading the guide. The doctor explanations of the “workup” and tests done before surgery are readable and make sense: Much of the blood testing, for instance, tells doctors whether a patient’s immune system is up to sustaining a controlled injury. His PreOp Preparation page spells out exactly what you need to know about how alcohol, vitamins, exercise, smoking, dieting, sleep and pain relievers may affect the operation--in effect, how surgery intersects with the rest of your life.
What Doesn’t: Though Catania prompts consumers to ask whether the surgery is necessary, he doesn’t provide a good roadmap for finding an answer. Nor is there any guide to checking out the surgeon or getting a complete second opinion. Doctors may disagree strongly about the wisdom of removing a prostate gland, for instance. Specialists can also differ on whether to do a heart bypass operation or even surgically correcting a botched LASIK procedure. How do you sort through the conflicting advice? Catania’s good common sense would help here, but he keeps it to himself.
