Nine Rewards of Having a Support Team for Your Surgery
March 14, 2007 by surgerycoach
Nine Rewards of Having a Support Team for Your Surgery
Why do you need a Support Team for any and every surgery? In a nutshell, you will do better, feel better and recover faster. Having support lowers stress and speeds recovery and total healing. Hospital patients receiving personal support do better by every measure: less pain, less need for medication, lower stress and shorter hospital stays. This is a time when it is appropriate to allow yourself to receive help.
What does a Support Team do? Anything and everything, ranging from everyday household tasks to being with you in the hospital, looking after your interests. The purpose is to keep your stress level as low as possible. Everyone can act as a healer just by picking up a strand for a friend. Plus, the more people who believe in you doing well, the larger your aura of wellness. Asking friends for help offers them an opportunity to be of genuine service. Don’t mind the ones who don’t accept. Give thanks for those who do.
Who Do You Need?
1. Someone to go with you to meetings with your doctors, take notes, help ask questions and maintain your calm, balanced state of mind.When you visit the surgeon’s office with an optimistic friend or two or more, you shift the expectancy of doctor and staff so they believe you are going to do well.
2. Someone to take you to the hospital and be with you before your operation.
3. Someone to help you get settled when you come out of recovery.
4. Someone to stay with you in your room, in 2-4 hour shifts, most or all of the time, while you are in the hospital. What do they do? –Reassure you and nurture you as you wish.–Keep the caregivers optimistic about you by enlisting them in the reality of your excellent recovery..–Have a list of your medications, make sure there are no errors, and question if there’s a change. –Keep you from getting steam-rolled by something the staff wants to happen that might not be in your best interest.–Guard you against being awakened unnecessarily. –Provide the foods you need, the tape you want to hear, the aromatherapy you want, the healing aids you’ve brought with you.–Keep your energy from being drained by visitors you don’t really want.
5. Several someones to be with you at home recovering but not completely self-sufficient. Help at home is crucial. Your team should be able to keep anyone away from you who wants to demand your attention. Your recovery period will go faster if you have few social visits that require you to speak, or even listen to casual conversation. Your energy is best directed to healing. The best possible people for the above roles are your most sympathetic friends, calm and outgoing, with caring, nurturing qualities. Their first job is to engage with hospital staff on your behalf, so they have to be willing to ask questions and say, “Hey, is that supposed to happen?”
6. People to clean house, put dinners in the freezer, help with driving or take care of children, take care of pets, paint the house, and so on. Make a list of the things you’d like help with and give the right task to the right person.
7. Several people who agree to think of you positively, pray for you, meditate on your healing, or whatever they like, around the time of your surgery. As many as you like from wherever they are. No travel time needed. Prayer has been clinically proven to improve recovery, so encourage even a commitment of a couple of minutes.
8. Find as many talented healers as you can. Some hospitals are now providing access to Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Massage Therapy and the like, which lower stress and increase immune function.
9. Ask for a healing circle. It can be as easy as friends gathering around you for a few minutes of healing intention. Before your surgery, the group emphasizes relieving stress and worry, plus holding positive thoughts about your good prospects. For a circle after the operation, the emphasis shifts to healing the physical trauma and the emotional wear and tear from the whole adventure. Keep in mind that you are deserving of attention and care at this time. Your job is to be receptive. Allow it in.
The above is adapted from the book, The Surgery Coach: Mind-Body Preparation for Faster, Better Recovery, by Joseph Casey. Available at www.TheSurgeryCoach.com.
Advertisement
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
Nine Rewards of Having a Support Team for Your Surgery
March 14, 2007 by surgerycoach
Nine Rewards of Having a Support Team for Your Surgery
Why do you need a Support Team for any and every surgery? In a nutshell, you will do better, feel better and recover faster. Having support lowers stress and speeds recovery and total healing. Hospital patients receiving personal support do better by every measure: less pain, less need for medication, lower stress and shorter hospital stays. This is a time when it is appropriate to allow yourself to receive help.
What does a Support Team do? Anything and everything, ranging from everyday household tasks to being with you in the hospital, looking after your interests. The purpose is to keep your stress level as low as possible. Everyone can act as a healer just by picking up a strand for a friend. Plus, the more people who believe in you doing well, the larger your aura of wellness. Asking friends for help offers them an opportunity to be of genuine service. Don’t mind the ones who don’t accept. Give thanks for those who do.
Who Do You Need?
1. Someone to go with you to meetings with your doctors, take notes, help ask questions and maintain your calm, balanced state of mind.When you visit the surgeon’s office with an optimistic friend or two or more, you shift the expectancy of doctor and staff so they believe you are going to do well.
2. Someone to take you to the hospital and be with you before your operation.
3. Someone to help you get settled when you come out of recovery.
4. Someone to stay with you in your room, in 2-4 hour shifts, most or all of the time, while you are in the hospital. What do they do? –Reassure you and nurture you as you wish.–Keep the caregivers optimistic about you by enlisting them in the reality of your excellent recovery..–Have a list of your medications, make sure there are no errors, and question if there’s a change. –Keep you from getting steam-rolled by something the staff wants to happen that might not be in your best interest.–Guard you against being awakened unnecessarily. –Provide the foods you need, the tape you want to hear, the aromatherapy you want, the healing aids you’ve brought with you.–Keep your energy from being drained by visitors you don’t really want.
5. Several someones to be with you at home recovering but not completely self-sufficient. Help at home is crucial. Your team should be able to keep anyone away from you who wants to demand your attention. Your recovery period will go faster if you have few social visits that require you to speak, or even listen to casual conversation. Your energy is best directed to healing. The best possible people for the above roles are your most sympathetic friends, calm and outgoing, with caring, nurturing qualities. Their first job is to engage with hospital staff on your behalf, so they have to be willing to ask questions and say, “Hey, is that supposed to happen?”
6. People to clean house, put dinners in the freezer, help with driving or take care of children, take care of pets, paint the house, and so on. Make a list of the things you’d like help with and give the right task to the right person.
7. Several people who agree to think of you positively, pray for you, meditate on your healing, or whatever they like, around the time of your surgery. As many as you like from wherever they are. No travel time needed. Prayer has been clinically proven to improve recovery, so encourage even a commitment of a couple of minutes.
8. Find as many talented healers as you can. Some hospitals are now providing access to Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Massage Therapy and the like, which lower stress and increase immune function.
9. Ask for a healing circle. It can be as easy as friends gathering around you for a few minutes of healing intention. Before your surgery, the group emphasizes relieving stress and worry, plus holding positive thoughts about your good prospects. For a circle after the operation, the emphasis shifts to healing the physical trauma and the emotional wear and tear from the whole adventure. Keep in mind that you are deserving of attention and care at this time. Your job is to be receptive. Allow it in.
The above is adapted from the book, The Surgery Coach: Mind-Body Preparation for Faster, Better Recovery, by Joseph Casey. Available at www.TheSurgeryCoach.com.
Like this:
Posted in My Comments | Tagged healing, natural, recovery, Surgery, surgerysupport, wellness | Leave a Comment
Comments RSS