Preparing for Surgery?

Ah yes, the end of the year, that time when you consider the surgery you put off all year waiting until things slowed down in your schedule.  Now your deductible is met on your insurance and the holidays are upon us so you better fit it in!

Some of you may think that as a natural health practitioner I am against surgery. Ironically, my Dad was a surgeon. He helped a lot of people because of what he was trained to do. I do not have anything against surgery especially after a serious trauma like a car accident where seconds and minutes count. The items below are best addressed before surgery, but there is much we can do to bring the body back to balance if you’ve already had your procedure.

Several things can play into your surgery that can leave a lasting impact for months and even years.  A few have been noted here with some thoughts on how to properly prepare.

1. Effects of Anesthesia
2. Impact on your gut microbiome
3. Impact on your skin microbiome
4. Scar tissue and adhesions
5. Back pain
6. Emotions out of balance

Here are a few things to consider in order to make your surgery as smooth as possible.  First, be sure to follow all the advice of your surgeon’s team.   They have their reasons for doing all the things that they do to make your surgery experience as positive as possible. Don't take chances, but know that there may be some after effects.  The good news is these can be addressed as long as you prepare in advance.

• Effects of Anesthesia and CO2:  Thank God for some tools that help keep the pain levels down. The days of biting a bullet are over, however, these tools can leave a lasting effect.  Be prepared and be patient. You may feel groggy or foggy for more than just a few hours after surgery. This is normal, generally, and drinking a lot of water will help your body flush some of this from your system. I highly recommend a technique we use in our BodyTalk Access class called Body Chemistry. It is specifically designed to help the body deal with the effects of intolerances to chemicals etc. If you don't know the BodyTalk Access routine be sure to check out the next class offering. You will find yourself using it for many more opportunities than just surgery;  including possibly surgery prevention depending on the issue.  However, in the absence of the full BodyTalk Access routine knowledge, try the first technique taught in the class called Cortices.  This is safe to use before and after your procedure.  You may also find when you have abdominal type surgery, that CO2 is used to pump up your abdomen so the surgeon can have a clear view to work. These can be very painful after surgery especially when the bubbles get lodged in areas like the clavicle or collarbone. Preparing for these in advance is easy with a BodyTalk surgery prep session with a trained practitioner. In these sessions, your practitioner will prepare your body to dispel these gases in a more efficient manner. The sessions can be performed in person and long distance via video conference as well.

• Impact to Gut Microbiome:  Generally after surgery, depending on the kind, you may be required to have a good bowel movement before you leave the hospital.  And if for any reason you were required to take an antibiotic pre or post-op, it's important for you to know that the antibiotic can actually impact your gut movement for well up to a year beyond the surgery.  This may mean your regular bowel activity looks different, but generally, regular bowel activity is best at 3 bowel movements a day.  It's important to consider a good probiotic and good fiber after surgery. And easing your digestive system into action is the best way to start.  Consider a smoothie for breakfast in the mornings including a good probiotic and good fiber. Both of these can be recommended by my office. It's important to note that not all probiotics are the same. And you will want to switch them up about every 2 to 3 months or they can actually have a negative impact on your microbiome. Another good way to move your microbiome to a good space is through the Body Chemistry technique in the BodyTalk Access class previously mentioned.    One of the best things to move your gut microbiome to a better space is a BodyTalk session with a trained practitioner who understands how to prep your body prior to your surgery.

• Impact on your Skin Microbiome:  Ah, the Hibiclens.  It's a special soap that helps protect you from bacteria that your body could be exposed to while in surgery at the hospital. I recently came across this when I had a surgery. The good news is I had BodyTalk Access and a knowledge of how to improve the good critters that keep my skin in good working order to protect my body.   This soap is very powerful and will strip your microbiome of anything and everything. Again, all for the right reason. The best thing I recommend is to get plenty of vitamin D from the sun, consider support for your skin such as Vitamin D supplement (gel) to put on incision points, essential oils such as Frankincense and Lavender several days after and perform the Body Chemistry technique from the BodyTalk Access routine. Not to mention BodyTalk surgery prep sessions.

• Scar Tissue:  Scar tissue or adhesions are what can be left behind from a surgery. It's basically where skin on the outside or muscle and other tissues on the inside form together almost as if they were glued. If these are in delicate areas they can cause restriction in movement.  In a BodyTalk surgery prep session, we actually have a technique specifically for scar tissue and adhesions. It not only helps to address the look and feel of old scars, but it can also help your body better prepare for healing of new incision points and access points from your surgery.  Sometimes there can even be emotional concerns locked up in these scars.   Consider if there was a lot of emotional energy around a surgery that perhaps you didn't want to have. Perhaps the loss of a limb or other body part like a uterus. These kinds of incidents can leave a lasting physical and emotional impression and can be prepared for through a BodyTalk session with a trained BodyTalk practitioner for surgery clearing and consider obtaining some essential oils for supporting the incision areas and emotions afterward.

• Back Pain:  If you have had any kind of surgery in the abdominal area lately, you may have experienced back pain that you did not realize could be related to your surgery. There are multiple energy pathways that run through your abdominal area which I call energy meridians. Many years ago, I had a procedure done through my navel. A few months later I started to experience back pain. It was then that I realized the surgeon cut through what is called the kidney meridian. I didn't know this at the time, but I now know to look for it in my clients. An adhesion can form near the point of incision and cut off the flow of energy through an energy meridian. This can link to other ailments in the body and to other organs and most doctors would not connect this simply because it comes from a different aspect of medicine.   So in my case, I worked with a certain specialist to have a procedure done through the abdomen. And six months later I started to have low back pain which would send most people to an orthopedic or back specialist. Neither of these two professionals are generally familiar with energy pathways. As I learned about energy pathways in my studies as a BodyTalk practitioner, I was able to connect that abdominal surgery scar to my low back pain.   As indicated above, when we cleared the scar blockage the energy could flow again and my kidney meridian was no longer impacted.  This meridian will impact your back among other areas. Before your next abdominal surgery, be sure to have a BodyTalk surgery pre and post session with a trained practitioner to prepare your body to make the most of a very invasive but sometimes necessary procedure.

• Emotions:  Never underestimate the power of emotions. Consider that all your body parts are a community. In fact, there is a Bible verse that talks about one body many parts. While that is referencing the Christian Community, it also is a phenomenal correlation to the body. So if you consider that you're having some sort of abdominal surgery and perhaps an organ is about to be removed like the gallbladder.   Consider the other organs around the gallbladder. The gallbladder is being removed probably because it's not working well. Maybe it’s “stinky”.  Remember, it's an organ going bad. Some of its neighboring organs may want it to move on. Kind of like if your neighbor next door piles trash heaps without having them moved on to the city dump. While some organs may want the gallbladder to move on, other organs like the liver which is it’s partner organ, will actually grieve the gallbladder leaving. It's no different than two police officers that are partners for many years. They have each other's back. They help each other out in times of need. And then one day the gallbladder is removed. Do not underestimate the need for that liver to be supported; emotionally and physically.   I'm sure I don't have to say much about a woman who has had a hysterectomy. You cannot underestimate the power of her emotions going through that process of losing that body part. A body talk session can prepare the body for removal of body parts and the addition of new parts such as transplants of any kind. Again consider the neighborhood. The old neighbors need to prepare and welcome the new body part.   One might also consider essential oils and flower essences for emotional support.

The things you never knew to do that can make a huge difference to your overall response to your surgery, huh?  You may not have taken the BodyTalk Access class but you have an opportunity in the immediate future.  At a minimum, you have the Cortices technique to help your brain talk to your body parts more effectively to help the healing process.  But for the most optimal outcome, I recommend a BodyTalk Session which can be performed in person or remotely via video conference as I walk you through techniques to help your body better prepare.  Contact my office to schedule your appointment to prep for surgery or to help you get back on the mend after one.