How to prepare weeks before surgery. Heart surgery, spine surgery, neurosurgery or cancer surgery. It is important to prepare for surgery mentally. Major surgery makes anyone anxious. Top cardiologist shares his experience.

Advice to patients on preparation for surgery. What to do several weeks in advance of surgery. Video interview with top expert in cardiology. How to prepare for heart surgery. How to prepare for surgical operation to ensure fast recovery. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. What patients can do to prepare for any major surgical operation. Experienced Boston cardiologist talks about what patients can do before surgical operation. Second opinion ensures that heart valve disease diagnosis is correct and complete. Second opinion also helps to choose the best treatment strategy for aortic stenosis or mitral regurgitation. Seek second opinion on valvular heart disease and be confident that your treatment is the best. How to prepare for surgery. Preparation for surgical operation. Medical Second Opinion. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. How do you prepare patients for the valvular heart disease surgery? What are key aspects of managing patients after the valvular heart disease surgical operation? Second Opinion (Cardiologist, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School). Dr. Dale Adler, MD. Preparation before heart surgery is the same as it is for any surgery. People should prepare for surgery as they prepare for any stressful circumstances in life. We would love for patients to be fit. Sometimes a patient smokes. It is an extreme help if they stop smoking for at least six or eight weeks before surgical operation. Medical Second Opinion. Even six or eight weeks of not smoking before surgical operation makes a big difference? Second Opinion. Yes, it makes a big difference, you are absolutely correct. Some patients lead a sedentary lifestyle. Sometimes a patient was inactive. It makes a big difference if they become even a little more active before the surgical operation. It is tough because often patients have severe heart valve problems. Dr. Dale Adler, MD. Valvular heart disease creates shortness of breath. Patients probably not going get really fit before surgical operation. Those actions are the only things that patients can hope to accomplish before surgery. Second Opinion. What about after surgical operation? The correct time for heart surgery is when patients have just started to show some symptoms of heart problems. Patients have symptoms. But they are just starting to show them. Heart valve repair in these patients will make them feel better very quickly. Their heart will have plenty of reserve in function. Sometimes it is a beautiful story. On third day after surgery patients already say they feel better. Even though they still have discomfort from the surgical operation. That is a a wonderful group. And it really doesn't take very much after the surgery to take care of these patients. Of course, you have many more patients who are different. For them the surgical procedure itself has been a real stress to their body. They are more tired and it just takes time. So we usually say that it takes about one month for patients after heart valve surgery to feel pretty good. We hope that in two months after heart valve disease surgery the patients feel terrific. Patients are going to realize that they are much better than how they felt before the surgery. Medical Second Opinion. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. It is probably very gratifying to see patients who were not doing well before. Dr. Dale Adler, MD. And after the surgery they fly! Second Opinion. It is wonderful! And you know as physician that is your goal and nothing makes you feel better. Preparing for major surgery. Video interview with Professor of Medicine Cardiology at Harvard Medical School. Key things to do several weeks before surgery.