Planned surgery gives you something valuable: time to prepare. Patients who arrive well-prepared tend to recover faster and encounter fewer avoidable problems.
In the weeks before
- Review every medication with your team, including supplements. Some need pausing well in advance; do not stop anything on your own.
- If you smoke, stopping helps — even a few weeks improves oxygenation and wound healing.
- Keep moving within your limits. Entering surgery fitter genuinely shortens recovery.
- Arrange the practical things: transport home, time off, and someone to help for the first days.
The day before
Follow the fasting instructions exactly — they exist to prevent a serious complication under anaesthetic, and getting them wrong usually means the operation is postponed. Pack loose clothing, your medication list, and a case for glasses or dentures.
Questions worth asking
- What does recovery realistically look like, week by week?
- What pain relief will I have, and how do I manage it at home?
- What warning signs should prompt me to call?
- When can I drive, work, lift and shower normally again?
Write the answers down, or bring someone who can. Very little of a pre-operative conversation is retained afterwards.
After you get home
Move gently and often — short, frequent walks reduce the risk of clots and chest complications. Contact your team about fever, spreading redness or discharge at the wound, calf pain or swelling, breathlessness, or pain that is escalating rather than settling.
The pre-operative assessment
Most planned surgery involves an assessment appointment beforehand — bloods, sometimes an ECG or other tests, and a conversation about anaesthetic. Be thorough about your history here, including previous reactions to anaesthetic, whether close relatives have had problems under anaesthetic, loose teeth, sleep apnoea and every substance you take. Anaesthetists genuinely need the unglamorous details.
Preparing your home before you go in
- Move everyday items to waist height so you are not reaching or bending.
- Clear trip hazards — loose rugs, trailing cables — especially on routes to the bathroom.
- Cook and freeze meals, or arrange deliveries for the first week.
- Set up one comfortable spot with charger, water, medication and something to do within arm’s reach.
- If you live alone, arrange for someone to check in daily at first.
Managing pain sensibly
Staying ahead of pain works better than chasing it. Taking relief on the schedule you have been given, rather than waiting until it becomes severe, generally means better control on a lower total amount — and being comfortable enough to move and breathe deeply is itself part of recovery. Tell your team if the plan is not controlling it.
Recovery rarely runs in a straight line
Most people have better days and worse days rather than steady improvement, and a worse day after a good one is not usually a setback. What matters is the trend across weeks. Sustained worsening, though, is worth a phone call.
This article is general information, not medical advice. For anything specific to you, please book an appointment and speak with one of our clinicians.
