Important Links
Bariatric Surgery
Cardiac Surgery
LASIK Eye Surgery
Orthopaedic Surgery
Plastic (cosmetic) Surgery
Robotic Surgery
Vascular Surgery
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Questions To Ask If Your Doctor Recommends Surgery
- What is the name of the surgery you’re recommending?
- Why do I need this surgery?
- How confident are you in my diagnosis?
- Are there other tests I should have to be conclusively sure?
- Where can I get a second opinion?
- Are there alternatives to surgery and how successful might they
be?
- Lifestyle changes?
- Medications?
- Non-surgical procedures?
- Watchful waiting?
- What are the risks of delaying or not having the surgery?
- What benefits can I expect from the surgery?
- Best case to worst case scenarios?
- Will my condition improve immediately after surgery, or will
it take more time?
- How long are the benefits likely to last?
- Will I need this surgery again in the future?
- What are the risks of the surgery and how likely are they to occur?
- Where will the surgery be done?
- Is this surgery done on an outpatient or inpatient basis?
- How big will the incision be?
- Are there less invasive surgical procedures?
- How would the potential benefits and risks differ?
- Will I have a significant scar, and if so, can something be
done in the future to reduce its appearance?
- Are you (the surgeon) board certified?
- How many of these procedures have you done?
- In total?
- At this facility?
- Do you work with the same surgical team each time you do this procedure?
- Is outcome data available for this surgery?
- Overall?
- For this facility?
- For you and your surgical team?
- What kind of anesthesia will I need?
- Local, regional or general?
- Do I have a choice?
- What are the qualifications of the anesthesiologist?
- Will the anesthesiologist be in attendance throughout the procedure?
- Are there things I will need to do to prepare for the surgery?
- Stop or start medications?
- Store my own blood?
- Special exercise?
- Tests?
- What are the steps involved in the procedure?
- What will happen before the surgery?
- How long will the surgery last?
- What happens after surgery?
- How much pain should I expect?
- How will it be controlled?
- How long is it likely to last?
- How long am I likely to be in the hospital?
- Will I have tubes, and if so, what tubes and for how long?
- Will I have monitors, and if so, what monitors and for how
long?
- When can my family visit?
- How soon will I be able to eat and drink?
- How soon will I be able to get out of bed?
- When will my stitches be removed?
- What determines when I will be discharged?
- Will I need assistance at home?
- For how long?
- Will I need any special supplies or equipment?
- What assistance is available in the community?
- What limits, if any, will there be on my activities and for how
long? (Eating, bathing, bending, climbing stairs, exercise, driving,
working.)
- Will I experience any permanent changes in bodily function, sensation,
or activities of daily living?
- How often and when will I have follow-up visits?
- If the surgery is diagnostic: How soon will I get results?
- Will I need physical therapy?
- If so, where will I go to get it?
- When will I start?
- How long might it take?
- What complications can arise after surgery?
- How likely are they?
- What are the signs of complications I should watch for?
- What are all the costs involved in this surgery and follow-up care?
- Are there other people I can contact who have had this surgery?
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