Recovery rates - do doctors have the power of auto-suggestion?

Curious about this: most of us seem to recover at the pace our doctor tells us we can. Even though the surgery type is the same (LSH in my case) different doctors have different ideas of how soon we should be doing what. My doctor is a no-nonsense, super-fit "get of your *** and on with your life" kind of person and even though personally I am a bit of a namby-pamby couch-potato type, I was up and running (not literally) in no time - this is just because my doctor told me I could and should. No adverse effects so far. If my doctor had said - take it easy, rest up - I would have been happy to do that. I am interested to hear what other sisters have to share. Has your recovery been different from what your doctor said you should expect?

HI,

I think it depends on type of surgery, old school vs. new school dr's and the person. I had a new school Dr, DaVinci hyster. and was told to take it easy first few wks. Yesterday, I went for 5wk and he did internal, asked how I felt and released me, he just told me to take things slow and rest when I feel like I need to. Most Dr.'s don't want their patients just laying around and on pain meds all the time..this does not promote healing. My recovery has been great..no pain pills or bleeding at all, I'm very lucky with that. I also took it easy and as soon as I felt tired or a little crampy or 'off' I went and laid down. I refused to hurt myself and prolong recovery. Everyone is different.
Glad you're doing good.
Betty-Jo

Hi Ponchito
Interesting thoughts. The power of suggestion is a powerful tool I believe, but I'm not sure it follows when there are true physical factors at work in our bodies. If your dr were to treat a woman who had complications or had a more difficult set of circumstances to over come he might remain positive and try to get her to get on with her life and she wouldn't be able to at the pace he was hoping, or he might change what he says to her because he realizes she has physical obstacles to over come before she can be as active as he would hope all of his patients will be able to be after he operates on them.

From reading posts here for several years I can say that there are often doctor's who lack compassion or understanding or wisdom, I'm not sure which one it is, but they take an approach that is very discouraging to women who truly are struggling to be up and around and feeling good and their bodies are just not there yet.

I think my dr would have liked to see me feeling better before I actually did, but he was understanding and helpful and didn't try to make me feel there was something wrong with me because I didn't meet his time table for healing. I would prefer a dr who will take his cue from me and what my body needs. Just some thoughts. I'm glad you're doing well.
's, Rita

interesting thread

my doctor released me after the 3rd week, (had abdominal surgery) he said I was fine to do everything, lifting, bending, intercourse, etc....I on the other hand, didnt follow his advice...this is my 4th week, and I am NOT bending, lifting, having sex, etc....I am driving, walking lots, resting also when my body tells me to,

my common sense tells me that (in my case) I should not do those things before 6 weeks, because from previous experineces there are chances of things going wrong and instead of 6 weeks to recover, the recovery could be longer because of you not taking care and doing things earlier than you should....I dont mind waiting a few more days if its going to be better for me in the long run....

I think we should listen to our doctors but listen to our bodies too...

I had a TAH/BSO at the end of Feb. Prior to surgery & even shortly after, whenever I asked my doctor when I'd be able to do this or when I should or shouln't do that his response was "you'll know, your body will tell you." It sounds kind of cryptic but he was right. I was back at my florist shop after two weeks (perhaps a tad too early) on limited lifting but I was standing a lot. Anyway, I agree, each one of us is different and has had different combinations of procedures. I've healed very quickly in my opinion but have had other annoying side effects that I hadn't expected.

Kim

I had LSH and Doc said at two weeks I would be ready to go. He is a very compassionate, but also non-alarmist, so I do believe there is a power of suggestion. In fact, I had a two week follow up phone call (surgery was out of state) and I was sitting in my car in front of Curves. As we hung up, he said, "girl, you'd better get in there!" (I didn't, but... It did make me feel capable. If he knew my body was ok, then I knew it too. Interesting thinking

I think there is some truth to that. I knew going in to it that I would only have 2 1/2 weeks before I had to go back to work, and my dr had said 2 weeks is all it would take. I am an independent person, I don't like being dependent on others or have people wait on me. I was off pain meds in 4 days, drove after 6 days, and back to work in 2 1/2 wks. I was doing things around the house right away....cooking, laundry, decorating the Christmas tree, no heavy lifting of course. For me, the longer I lay around, the harder it is to get going again. I personally attributed a lot of my tiredness to my body getting out of the habit of doing things as much as the surgery itself.

Good luck to you! I am several months out now, and so happy with my results!

I was given a book called "Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster." It gives a number of good pieces of advice,most of which I've heard on this site, but the thing I found interesting is the results of a number of studies that it sites. They found that patients whose doctors said certain positive phrases to them, such as "You're surgery has gone very well", and "You will wake up feeling comfortable, and hungry for (whatever food you like ), or, "you will be able to urinate easily", used ,on average, about half the pain medication and were able to leave the hospital 1.5 days earlier than patients whose doctors didn't say positively reinforcing statements. The statements were made when patients were under anesthesia and particularly suggestible. They were even able to give suggestions to lower blood pressure and minimize bleeding. Sounds like hocus pocus, but the studies were done at very reputable hospitals. So, to make a long story short, Yes, doctors do have the power of auto-suggestion if they choose to use it. Who knew

The mind is very powerful! That doesn't surprise me at all. Thanks for the post!

I think that my recovery went like the said that it was going to.

We initially talked about being able to :steer: in 2 weeks and not lifting anything for 6 weeks. I was a little delayed because my bladder was nicked and I had a catheter for 18 days. But when I went in for my post-op appointment (mt divorce from Mr. Foley Catheter), she said that I could :steer: and do anything else that I was comfortable with - EXCEPT LIFTING. So, I did. She said to take naps during the day - which was fine.

It worked well for me. I think that if she said that I needed to just sleep, I'd still be in the some 13 weeks later I started to feel like the more I stayed in the house, the less progress I was making. So at 3 weeks, I made a point of going someplace every day.

I do realize that the 18 day marriage to Mr. Foley Catheter gave me a chance to heal because I just didn't go anywhere. My did not say that I had to stay in, but the leg bag and I just did not get along.

Thanks for starting this thread ponchito - it is interesting to see others experience. Continued blessings on my sisters ....