Questions You May Want to Ask the Surgeon

If you are told that you need surgery, you may be so overwhelmed at the thought of it that you may come away from that initial consultation a little bewildered by the news. That’s only to be expected but before the surgery takes place, you will get ample opportunity to ask questions, which your surgeon should be able to answer.

You may have some very specific questions of your own but here are some of the more common questions that are often at the forefront of people’s minds when told by a surgeon that an operation is advised.

Why do I Need an Operation?

You’ll want to be told why the surgery is necessary and the problem it’s designed to rectify. You may also want to ask if there are any alternatives to surgery and if not, why not. And, if you decide to go ahead with the procedure, you’ll want to know the benefits of having the surgery done and how that will improve your quality of life.

What are The Risks?

Another important aspect you’ll want to be reassured about are the potential risks involved with the surgery being proposed. Some typical risks common to most surgical procedures include excessive bleeding, blood clots, infection and adverse reaction to general anaesthetic and different procedures come with different types and degrees of risk so you’ll want to be made fully aware of all the possible risks that could be involved.

What If I Don’t Have The Operation?

Whilst some operations are completely necessary in order to keep you alive or to dramatically improve the quality of your life, others may be more of a potential gamble in terms of how successful they’ll be and some will have more or less of an impact upon your quality of life post-surgery than others.

Therefore, it’s useful to weigh up the pros and cons by asking what would be likely to happen over the short and long term if you decided to put the operation on hold or if you were to consider declining the surgery altogether.

Quite often, for those of a nervous disposition and those who harbour great uncertainty about undergoing surgical procedures, the answer to this question can often swing things in the favour of putting aside all the risks and going ahead because the prognosis were you not to have the surgery could be so bleak that your mind is made up for you.

What Will The Procedure Involve?

You might ask this question but that depends on the type of person you are. Some people like to know all the nuts and bolts about what to expect in terms of the actual procedure involved, what kind of incisions might be made, what type of anaesthetic will be used, how severe any scarring might be etc, yet there are those who would prefer to know as little as possible about the actual surgical procedure for fear that it would put them off going through with the operation altogether. Ultimately, the amount of detail you’ll want to know about the procedure is really up to you to decide.

How Long Will It Take Me To Get Over The Operation?

Whether it’s work or family commitments or you’ve got your eye on a holiday in the not too distant future, most people will want to gain some indication as to how long the rehabilitation and recovery process is likely to take and what’s involved in that.

This often helps people set goals and targets for their recovery which, in itself, is a positive step along the road to recovery, although, of course, you need to be aware that you may have occasional temporary setbacks.

You may well have other questions too. Perhaps you’ll want to seek a second opinion or you may want to ask the surgeon how much experience they have of performing this type of surgery. Surgeons are well prepared for both of those questions as well as many others so you should not feel as though you cannot question the surgeon’s competence.

The fact is that the questions you’ll want to ask will vary from person to person. However, it is the surgeon’s duty to answer as candidly as they can. Some of the answers you’ll be grateful for whilst there may be some responses that unnerve you. The important thing being that the surgeon is completely open and honest with you.