Is surgery right for me?
Surgery is not right for everyone. It is important you talk to your healthcare team about your treatment options and decide together about your treatment plan.
There are many things that can increase your risk of complications from surgery and affect your treatment options. For example, having low fitness, needing help for daily activities, the medication you take and having other health issues such as heart disease and diabetes.
The decision about surgery should be made with your healthcare team, this is called shared decision making. Deciding about your surgery should include providing your health history and making sure you understand any risks.
Questions you might ask your healthcare team:
- Is surgery my only option?
- What are the risks of the surgery?
- How can I prepare myself for my surgery?
- What are the side effects of anaesthesia?
- Where will I have my surgery?
- What does recovery look like?
- Will my surgeon be operating on the day of my surgery?
- How long is my surgery going to go for?
What other options do I have?
There may be other options you can try instead of surgery. These are called alternative therapies or non-surgical treatments. Some examples of alternative therapies include:
- orthopaedic clinics
- hand therapy clinics
- physiotherapy
- occupational therapy
Your healthcare team can provide you with more information and discuss what options are right for your situation.
Sharing my health history with my healthcare team
It’s important that you share your health history with your team. Your team need to know about your health conditions and medications. This helps the team identify possible surgery risks, the right treatment options and organise tests before your surgery.
It’s helpful for you to tell your healthcare team about:
- allergies
- airway difficulties, obstructive sleep apnoea, or if you snore or wake up gasping for air
- medications, in particular blood thinners and medications that reduce your ability to fight infection
- anything else you think they should know.
You can share your healthcare record online. This is called My Health Record. It is a safe and secure place to keep your key health information. It’s important to keep this up to date if you use it.
What your healthcare team might ask you:
- What is your name?
- When were you born (date of birth)?
- What medical conditions have you had?
- Have you had any surgery in the past?
- What medications are you taking?
- What is your height and weight?
- Do you have any allergies?
- Have you had any changes to your thinking or memory?
- Have you had any changes to your hearing or vision?
- Do you drink alcohol, smoke or take illicit drugs?
These are also common questions on pre-history health questionnaires.
What if my condition changes?
It’s important to let your healthcare team know if your health:
- gets better, for example, you have completed some physiotherapy and you feel stronger, your symptoms improve, or
- gets worse, for example, you are walking less, or your other health conditions are not controlled.