Those confrontations which emerge as a result of injury impact a patient who exists chiefly in a state of unpreparedness and naivete. The patient will be controlled by many people, many of whom are strangers and will be exposed to both uncomfortable and, at times, both intimidating and embarrassing situations. Privacy will cease to exist and immediate availability of friends and family may not exist. Despite adequate pre-surgical education of the patient, when surgery is discussed, the now anxious patient quite often ceases to incorporate data. The patient may hear little of what was explained, understand little of what is to occur, and be quite unprepared to function effectively in the surgical patient role.
Many patients feel they have great pain tolerance.
In reality, most are unprepared for pre or post-surgical pain. They fear becoming dependent upon family. They either fear becoming dependent upon analgesia, or they rapidly become reliant upon medication which then dysregulates their mood, disrupts their relationships, and may make them the bane of their surgeon s existence with endless requests for increasing dosages or seeking medication from multiple providers. A very significant roadblock to recovery is the counterproductive habits and behaviors in which patients engage. Consider the patient who needs a cervical or lumbar fusion but continues to smoke after being told that this will impede bone regeneration.