Don’t Face Surgery Unprepared [Dr. Wilder's Personal Journey]

Recently I received the sobering news that I needed to have major surgery. I learned that I had a major colon polyp that could not be resected through an endoscopy. I immediately went into planning mode to prepare for this major event. If you were anticipating a fitness event, you would train for it. Surgery is no different.

In this vlog post I share my personal journey, in the hopes of helping those in a similar position prepare for surgery and optimize their outcomes, by taking control of their health.

The Mental Preparation

I wanted to start off by talking about how someone can deal with the emotions and responses that come with any major health consequence, including the stages of grief, bargaining, depression, denial, etc.

We're all going to face them, and hit the rapids eventually, but it's how you steer that makes all the difference.

Before we get into the specifics of how I am going to be preparing my physical body for surgery, I want to talk about one of the most important parts that is often overlooked - preparing your mind. It's tough having to go through surgery. You can either frame it in a very negative way - which can increase the risk of negative outcomes - or you can frame it positively.

Physical Preparation for Surgery

Now that we've talked about how I'll be mentally preparing for surgery, I'm eager to share with you the details of how I am preparing my body. The very first thing I'm going to focus on as I'm training for surgery is my nutrition.

What we put into our body is absolutely foundational to the health of every cell, our ability to clear toxins, and the ability of our immune system to prevent infections and promote healing.

Of course, no one wants to feel obligated to cook or go grocery shopping immediately following surgery. It's important to prepare meals in advance so that you can optimize your nutrition while recovering. Some of my favorites to prep include nourishing soups and broths.

Detoxing Before & After Surgery

The next phase of preparing for surgery is to really think about detoxification.

During any surgery, we are given a variety chemicals, possibly even pain medications. We want to prepare our bodies for this by eliminating toxic exposure leading up to surgery. This helps clean/clear our liver and ensure it is ready to go when we hit the operating room, as well as optimizes our ability to clear any toxins we are exposed to.

Post Surgery Update

I'm super happy to say I made it through surgery and I did incredibly well! As a result of training and preparing, instead of spending the average 3-5 days in the hospital for this type of procedure... I was only in for about 24 hours. The discharge process took twice as long as the surgery!

When people ask me "what is the one thing you did that helped you get through surgery better than most people?" I would say I decided not to be a passive victim, I decided to be an active warrior - and that makes all the difference.