Be curious patient before going under knife
Before undergoing any surgery, ask questions, lots of them. That's the advice from Dr. Aage Moller, a physiologist at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Here are some questions that every patient should ask:
--How do I know I have the disease for which the operation is aimed? (A diagnosis can be wrong.)
--How do I know the surgery offers the greatest benefits and fewest side effects?
--What benefit will I have from the surgery?
--Has the operation been shown to give a better or longer life and are there studies to support that?
--What are the immediate and long-term risks?
--Any nonsurgical options?
--Ask the surgeon how many times he or she has performed this operation. If it's a small number, find another surgeon.
--If the surgery may put nerves, the spinal cord or the brain at risk of injury, ask whether the surgeon uses intra-operative neurophysiologic monitoring. If not, find another doctor.
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