What ?s should surgeons be asking their patients?

Wow! I was surprised to have been brought back to this post but here I am. My surgery was nearly two years ago. The first year after the surgery was a absolute hell. I was not prepared for the difficulty. I was also not prepared for the lack of support.

Ultimately, almost 18 months after the surgery, I found a physical therapist who was willing to put in the time and energy to help me as well as install a sense of confidence that I can be helped. He was great.

I want to emphsize a couple of points. First and most importantly, there needs to be more dialogue and more time spent working with the patient. For lack of a clinical term, don’t leave your patient with “lost cause syndrome.” It can be deadly. I am not exaggerating when I say that I felt hopeless and the idea of suicide crossed my mind as I wasn’t recovering.

Secondly, someone, somewhere, somehow needs to develop a comprehensive physical therapy/rehabilitation program to recover from this kind of surgery. This is one of the most common major surgeries which has a high incidence of complications. Professionals, please, I beg you, consider a better after care process. I can’t stress this enough. Don’t let people sit and waste away.