Preparing for my Treatment and Recovery

If you are currently waiting for surgery or treatment, preparing effectively can make a significant difference to your experience of treatment and your recovery. It can help you to maintain your mental and physical wellbeing during your treatment and aid your recovery afterwards. 

These pages share a range of information and advice about what you can do to best prepare yourself for your treatment and what you can do during your treatment to maximise the results, as well as providing you with information to help you recover. This information is about surgery generally and has specific information for people with cancer.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way patients undergo elective surgery. If you are coming into hospital for surgery, your medical team will ask you to follow specific guidance for the 14 days prior to your admission. This guidance includes information on social distancing, isolation instructions, pre-operative COVID-19 testing and gives practical advice on the do’s and don’ts prior to admission. The guidance is specific to patients being admitted to the “Protected Elective Surgical Unit” (PESU) but the general advice can be used by anyone being admitted for surgery.

If you are having surgery please watch this video on how you can prepare for surgery