A Note About Your Surgery
Whether you’ve been planning for this surgery or it’s come your way
suddenly as the result of an injury we encourage you to view this
experience as an opportunity for rest, positive change,
rehabilitation and recovery.
We live busy lives, balancing family, friends, work, hobbies,
school, work and athletic schedules to name just a few activities.
Most people have few free moments during the day, yet alone free
days during any given month. Even our ‘down-time’ is usually spent
in advance. It is not inaccurate to say that in modern culture we’ve
lost touch with the art of rest. Yet, rest is an utterly essential,
integral, and foundational element in your recovery. Whether you’re
a professional athlete, weekend athlete, or never get beyond reading
Sports magazines or any magazines on the couch, it’s as simple as
this: No Rest – No recovery.
It is tempting to see any alteration in the regular rhythms of life
as an “Interruption,” and of course, on one hand, it is. On the
other hand if you utilize the time to your advantage you can
re-think and re-group so that your life is an absolute reflection of
what you want for yourself. During the post operative phase, you
have the time to reconsider the elements of your life and reorganize
accordingly. All athletic trainers understand the function and
necessity of pacing when training an athlete. Muscle will not heal
and rebuild unless there are intelligently planned and effectively
utilized periodic ‘time-out sessions.’ This is simple scientific
fact.
There will be plenty of time to engage with life in the not so
distant future. After the initial post-op period of rest, you’ll
commence with a regime of Physical Therapy. You’ll need to give
yourself to your PT with as much commitment as you give yourself to
your process of ‘rest’.
Health and wellness are relative terms that vary slightly with each
individual. Your surgery is affording you an opportunity to attain,
regain or maintain a level of mobility in life so that you can have
the best quality of life. Fully engage in each phase of your process
– Surgical prep, post-operative rest, and physical therapy.
As a Surgeon, Dr. Kennedy can make revisions to your injured foot,
ankle, knee, or leg. As a surgeon he monitors your physical progress
and refines your medicines, physical therapy, and care-plan
accordingly. Please consider that the quality and length of your
recovery is enhanced and even expedited by your active participation
in each phase of the process.
The following pages are designed to help you personally as you
navigate through the process of surgery. The first 2 pages address
the technical and logistical aspects of the Surgical Prep. The
latter pages suggest how you personally can approach and make the
most of this period.
|
