Synopses & Reviews
Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster shows how to use mind-body techniques to reduce anxiety, use 23–50% less pain medication, and heal faster. Documented by research, it is recommended by hospitals in the U.S., including Brigham and Women's Hospital, which is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. It also includes chapters about using mind-body techniques to reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy, how to prepare children for surgery, and vitamins to speed healing. An updated edition was published in 2012.
Review
Reviews — Boston Globe, Nov. 11, 2007: “Many hospitals in the Boston area are using Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster, the mind-body program, largely because patients are demanding it. Some patients get the book and relaxation CD and follow the program on their own and others take part in group or private one-hour workshops.
Hospital staff and their patients who use the techniques report that before and after surgery patients feel more peaceful and in control. They have less pain and fewer complications, use less pain medication, recover faster and leave the hospital sooner.”
OR Manager, Nov 2000 wrote: “Gynecologic oncology patients leaving the hospital in 3-4 days after a total abdominal hysterectomy—a day or two less than usual. These are the effects anesthesiologist Jean Henney, MD, says she has seen since instituting Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster, a psychological preparation for surgery. Dr. Henney has championed this program at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Santa Clara, California.”
In the newsletter of the Association of Women Surgeons, Fall 1996, Dixie Mills, MD, FACS wrote: “I am still continually amazed at patients outcomes when using Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster-they really do wake up quicker, go home sooner, and use less pain medication. Patients who obtain the relaxation CD used with the book and listen to it for at least a week before their operation also have an almost uncanny glow and serenity about them during the pre-op preparation.
This book is a beginning in returning the human spirit to our now overly high-tech, sterile ORs.
Appendices deal with vitamins to speed healing, preparing children for surgery, and lessening the side-effects of radiation and chemotherapy—all very practical advice.”
Review
Endorsements — Christiane Northrup, MD, best-seller author of Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom writes in the foreword to Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster… . "this book should be in the hands of everyone having surgery.” Andrew Weil, MD, best-seller author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health writes “I recommend Peggy Huddlestons book and relaxation CD to all who require surgery and want to heal faster.” Lawrence H. Cohn, MD, Professor of Cardiac Surgery, Harvard Medical School says, “Patients with high levels of anxiety use Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster to go forward with surgery in a confident manner.”
Review
"Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster" empowers patients to lead the way to recovery by allowing them to take their appropriate place on the surgical team". --Mehmet Oz, MD Host of The Dr. Oz Show
"I recommend Peggy Huddleston's book and Relaxation CD to all you require surgery and want to recover faster". -- Andrew Weil, MD NYTimes best-selling author, "8 Weeks to Optimum Health" Director, Program in Integrative Medicine, U. of Arizona
".....Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster" should be in the hands of everyone having surgery."--Forward by Christiane Northrup, MD NYTimes best-selling author "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom"
About the Author
Peggy Huddleston developed five steps to prepare for surgery using mind-body techniques. She describes her method in her groundbreaking book, Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster. Her book and relaxation CD are recommended at hospitals in the United States. She designed a relaxation CD that is used with the book. The CD is available in English and Spanish. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, her writing and clinical work focus on the way positive emotions and the human spirit enhance healing.