Healing faster after surgery is all a state of mind, says Peggy Huddleston.

        Ms. Huddleston, 57, of Cambridge, Mass., has spent 25 years teaching patients — and doctors and nurses - how to achieve that state of mind.

Huddleston

        And 7 p.m. Feb. 1, she'll be in Greater Cincinnati signing copies of her book, Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster: A Guide of Mind-Body Techniques (Angel River Press; $14.95;) at the Deerfield Township Barnes and Noble, 9891 Waterstone Blvd.

        Her techniques have been adopted at several leading hospitals, including NYU Medical Center in New York and Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center in California. Research at Harvard Medical School has shown the techniques shorten post-surgery hospital stays and ease post-operative pain.

        She recently talked to the Enquirer about her work.

        Question: When you work with patients, what's the most common theme of your conversations?

        Answer: Fear. They're always terrified. They can't sleep. The biggest fear is that they won't wake up from the anesthesia. It just unhinges everybody. And most surgeons, unless they've had an operation themselves, don't realize the fear that patients are coping with.

        Interestingly enough, when I have doctors or nurses who have to have surgery, they're even more scared than normal people, because they know everything that can go wrong.

        Q: Describe your technique.

        A: I have five steps in my protocol for preparing for surgery.

        Step one is to relax to feel peaceful. It's using the relaxation tapes two times a day twice a week. People connect with this profound sense of peace that surprises them. That peace in turn creates the complex biochemical reaction that enhances and speeds up healing. It strengthens the immune system, which then speeds up healing.

        Step two is to visualize your recovery. I ask patients to visualize, if it's an inpatient surgery, that they're getting in the car with their spouse or best friend and to say to them, I really do feel comfortable and I'm ready to go home.

        Step three is to organize a support group. This is my favorite step. I ask them to get at least 20 people to think of them and wrap them in a blanket of love that half-hour before surgery, and the person will feel this sense of peace, and they're collected and they're calm while they're in the holding area.

        Step four is to use healing statements that are spoken by the anesthetist or nurse-anesthetist. The first is spoken as the patient is just going under. It's been documented that as the patient's going under the anesthetic, they're highly suggestible, as in hypnosis.

        Step five is to establish a supportive doctor/patient relationship. For example, meet the anesthetist by phone the day before surgery and ask, "Will you say these healing statements?' A patient should know it's their legal right to ask to have those made.

        Q: Are most physicians willing to make the statements?

        A: I'd say 85 percent are, because they know of the research of the benefits of what they call therapeutic statements that has been documented by anesthesiologists. There are some that are cranky and just don't want to do it. I'd say the younger doctors are more accepting.

        Q: Is any research being done on your techniques?

        A: I'm just beginning a new research study at Massachusetts General Hospital with 80 patients having abdominal hysterectomy for endometrial cancer. The main complaint is nausea, and it causes women to stay in the hospital beyond the three days the insurance company will pay for. The healing statements can help with nausea and so can the relaxation techniques.

        Q: How important is the patient's state of mind when they're going into surgery?

        A: I'd say it's essential that they be relaxed, because they'll sleep soundly at night before the surgery, and that's going to strengthen the function of their immune system. If they go into it white-knuckled and terrified, they're going to need more anesthetic to knock them out, and they're going to be the ones throwing up in the recovery room to get all that anesthetic out of their stomachs. Calmer patients also will experience less physical pain following surgery.
       Check out www.healfaster.com to order Ms. Huddleston's book and an accompanying relaxation tape, or take an online class in her technique.

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