For any woman choosing to undergo elective surgery, sensible planning is only one aspect of overall readiness. In order to be most effectively prepared, the decisions a woman makes subsequent to her surgery date and in the days immediately following will profoundly affect the overall quality of her recovery. According to Dr. Christopher A. Foetisch, an orthopedic surgeon who performs over 500 surgeries each year at Flower Hospital, it has been his experience that one of the first missteps some women make post-surgery is that they resist taking essential pain medications by wrongly accepting a self-imposed stigma equating medication with weakness, thereby compounding unnecessary pain upon an already stressed and impaired body.

        Women also frequently attempt to maintain their usual frenetic pace as caregivers and multiple role-players both within and outside of the home during those early days and weeks post-surgery. Dr. Foetisch notes that women in general would fare better and heal faster if they factored in outside assistance to lessen their workload.

        Yet another consideration is the mental and emotional investment required in committing oneself to daily exercise in order to regain strength and full mobility. Perhaps the most defining characteristic between a patient who recovers successfully and one who does not is, "their determination to get well," says Dr. Foetisch. Some patients approach the surgery experience without the drive to do their part, "I do two hours of work, but they must work for three months..." states Foetisch.

        Every woman contemplating undergoing a reparative medical procedure would do well to take an exhaustive and realistic pro-active look at just how involved even the most minor elective surgeries can be. Surgeries don't have to temporarily cripple women emotionally or physically, and with good prior planning they won't.