Wentworth Douglass Hospital - Services Overview

Sail Through Surgery

Your Guide to Healing Fast, Recovering Well

Medical studies show that people who prepare for an operation have less pain, fewer complications, leave the hospital and recover sooner.

With our Sail Through Surgery program, you will learn techniques to:

Feel calm & confident before surgery
Strengthen your immune system
Have less pain after surgery
Speed your recovery from surgery

You may receive this information one or two weeks before your operation. However, even if you only have one day before surgery, you can still benefit from these techniques.

WHY prepare for surgery?

When we are afraid, our bodies react in very specific ways. The adrenal glands release a substance called adrenaline that constricts blood vessels and sends more blood to the heart and the brain than in normal circumstances. Adrenaline also causes the heart to beat faster, breathing to become more rapid and blood pressure to rise. The stress and anxiety that naturally accompany the prospect of surgery can trigger these same stressful reactions in your body.

When you prepare your physical body for surgery as well as your mind and spirit, you learn to control your body's response to stress and anxiety. People who follow these simple guidelines generally sail through their surgery.

How do I prepare to sail through my surgery?

Chart your course

No experienced sailor would go to sea without knowing the ship's capabilities and details of wind and weather. Likewise, it's important for you to learn everything you can about your surgery and what to expect afterward.

Visit a library or bookstore; explore the Internet. Your doctor will also provide information and answer questions.

Prepare your ship

Before any voyage, sailors assure their boat is seaworthy and all equipment is in good condition. Before your surgery, give your body extra attention and care. A well-rested, conditioned physical body has more energy to heal and to recover well.

Relax...smell the ocean and feel the gentle breeze

Calm your mind and spirit. Feeling peaceful strengthens your immune system and creates the complex biochemistry that results in decreased pain, faster recovery, and enhanced healing.

Here are some techniques to calm your jitters and help you feel relaxed and prepared for surgery. Choose the ones that work for you and practice them often before your operation.

Breathe Deep, Breathe Well

Breathe...not your everyday breathing, but slow, deep, rhythmic breathing using your belly (abdominal) muscles. You can do this exercise anywhere. Practice it a few times every day. Get yourself into a comfortable, relaxed position. Place one hand on your belly and breathe in slowly through your nose. Hold your breath for a few seconds then breathe out slowly through your mouth. Concentrate on making the hand on your belly rise with each breath in and fall with each breath out. Think about nothing but breathing. This rhythmic breathing will ease your anxiety, and good deep breaths can help prevent problems with your lungs after your operation. Breathe deep, breathe well when you are in the hospital and after surgery.. .as often as you think of it.

Listen to Relaxing Music

Music is vital to every society and culture. There is power in music that cannot be expressed in verbal language. Certain kinds of music help trigger the relaxation response, calming a person's inner restlessness and quieting mind chatter. Gentle and repetitive music promotes healing. Find 10 minutes, once or twice daily until your surgery, to practice your BREATHING exercise while you listen to relaxing music. BRING YOUR MUSIC and a portable tape/CD player (with a headset preferred) when you come to the hospital for your operation. BE SURE THESE ITEMS ARE LABELED WITH YOUR NAME. Listen to your music in the hospital before, after and maybe even during your operation.

Visualize (imagine) Your Recovery

When you engage your senses of sight, smell, hearing and touch in imagining your successful surgery and recovery, your subconscious mind influences your actual experience. Try letting your mind wander to a place that is special and healing to you—real or imagined. Notice how calm, relaxed and safe you feel here. Imagine that you are guided to this place immediately after your operation. Notice the smells and sounds of your special healing place; see and touch everything around you. When you visualize your recovery you turn worries into positive healing images. In the days before your operation, remember to mentally escape to your healing place. The more often you practice this technique, the better it will work for you.

Give Your Mind Positive Healing Suggestions

Positive healing statements, called affirmations, can be used to give your mind suggestions about the positive recovery you want to experience. Some people create their own affirmations. Others select them from poems, prayers, or meditations.

Some examples include:

I believe that I am healthy and strong, and I will heal quickly and easily.

I see myself getting through this operation with minimal discomfort.

I feel surrounded by love and support and am thankful.

Find one or two AFFIRMATIONS that are meaningful to you. Write them on an index card to carry with you. Say them to yourself over and over when you are driving, waiting in line, brushing your teeth, walking or jogging. Bring your index card to the hospital. Your nurse or anesthesiologist may be willing to read your affirmations when your operation begins or as you are coming out of the anesthesia.

Request a Reiki Treatment (pronounced "ray-key")

Reiki is a gentle, non-intrusive therapy that provides deep relaxation and evokes a sense of peace and well being. During a treatment, the practitioner's hands are held over or in light contact with the body. Reiki helps the body jump-start the healing process. Treatments in the hospital (at no cost) take about 15 minutes. Your nurse can arrange a Reiki treatment for you.

Your care team at Wentworth- Douglass Hospital wants you to sail through your surgery. When you feel prepared before your operation, you know your recovery is likely to be easier after your operation!

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital recommends SUCCESSFUL SURGERY audiotapes by Belleruth Naparstek to guide you through the techniques described in this pamphlet. These are available on loan from the hospital (PreAdmission Services phone 603-740-2281).