How to prepare for a major surgical operation? What is the most important thing every patient should do? Prepare for cancer or heart surgical operation correctly. Eminent cardiac surgeon shares his wisdom. How to prepare for major surgery? Dr. Anton Titov, MD. How to mentally prepare for surgical operation? Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. Psychological preparation is very important before major surgery. What can I do to prepare for surgery in the best way? Eminent cardiac surgeon with over 40 years of experience studied methods of psychological preparation for major surgery. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. These are the key things you need to know when preparing for surgery. Ask all questions that are on your mind. Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. Ask questions about the risks of operation. Ask about possible complication. Ask what is the chance of you having a stroke. Ask what is the chance of having heart attack during operation. Surgeon must answer all questions about your surgery. Video interview with leading expert in cardiac surgery. Second opinion confirms that your diagnosis is correct and complete. Second opinion helps to choose the best treatment for heart disease and peripheral artery disease. Get second opinion on heart disease and be confident that your treatment is the best. How to prepare for surgery. Surgery preparation. Heart surgery preparation. 1234 Even as heart surgery becomes increasingly minimally invasive it remains a major surgery. Sure. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. How can patients prepare psychologically for the major surgery? How patients can relieve the anxiety before the surgical operation? You have a lot of experience in that. 1234 (Cardiac Surgeon, Harvard Medical School) Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. If the patient is not anxious before operation, there's something wrong with the patient. That's normal behavior. First of all, the patient should ask the doctor every question on their mind. Or they should ask all questions the physician assistant. Whoever sees the patient. There are counseling services to help patients prepare for surgery. There are also books written about how to prepare yourself for surgery. Sometimes these books are very good. Patient who had been drinking a lot of alcohol should reduce that. They should try to lose some weight. They should stop smoking. Smoking is the worst thing you can do. That's just common sense. I think the major question is to ask the doctor every single question in your mind. Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. Do not hesitate to ask all your questions before surgical operation. Do not be afraid and do not be shy to ask your surgeon all questions. Find out what the basic hospital care routine is going to be. What is going to happen after the surgery? It all has to be asked. You cannot hold back any question that is on your mind. 1234 How can a surgeon apply the power of suggestion to help patient before surgery? How to apply any psychological methods to decrease the patient's anxiety? How to improve surgical results after operation? 1234 Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Again, sometimes the patient does not ask all the questions that they should ask. Then the surgeon has to say this. "You never asked the following questions. This is what you really need to know." Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. Most patients, for example, ask me this. "How many days I have to stay in hospital?" But a lot of them don't ask: "What's the risk in this operation? What is the risk I might die? What is the risk of having a stroke or heart attack?" The surgeon should have predictable numbers based on his or her own experience. That's the information a surgeon have to tell the patient. It could really reassure patients before surgical operation. A lot of times the stress is just getting those decisions made is more stress than the operation itself. So patients should have a good understanding how to prepare for surgery. Dr. Lawrence H. Cohn, MD. It is very important part of the preparation of patient for surgery. Surgeon should answer all the questions the patient needs to know. Even if the patient did not ask that question. 1234 Because same questions come up again and again. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. The surgeon often knows all questions that the patient should ask. Surgeon often knows questions better than the patient does. Of course, yes. How to prepare for major surgery psychologically? How to relieve anxiety before surgery? What patient and family can do to ensure best results of surgery?