Well, preparation for surgery doesn’t require a lot, but there are some common sense things you can do to be as fit as possible for the surgery. I usually say to patients not to unduly diet before surgery, because it is important that your body has enough energy reserves to carry you through the operation and through the healing period, so no aggressive dieting pre-surgery. I want patients to be well fed and well rested in the week before surgery, so no late nights, not too much alcohol, definitely don’t want people showing up with a hangover for surgery. And we also don’t have any obvious open wounds or infections, so if someone’s got a bad toothache or a bad ear ache or a bad cut that’s got infected on the leg we might choose to postpone surgery, particularly for certain types of operations where the infection risk might be higher.
