Rapid Recovery Handbook

Your Complete Guide to Faster Healing After Surgery (HarperCollins 2006)

The Rapid Recovery Handbook

A practical guide for preparing for surgery and supporting the body’s healing process after the event. Many people incorporate suggestions from the book as part of their pre-surgery prep as well as applying tips for speeding up recovery.  Many others focus only on the post-op strategies.   This book has been invaluable to many patients’ experiences of speedy recovery, and it makes a perfect gift for anyone facing surgery or recovering from their operation.  It’s also intended for anyone interested in natural ways to speed up the healing of injuries of any kind.

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From the Foreword by Mehmet Oz, MD:

The Rapid Recovery Handbook speaks to the possibility of a happy marriage between the body’s self-healing power and the curative power of surgery.  It lays out a set of strategies that can accelerate the wound healing process and arms you with the knowledge you need to help protect yourself and your loved ones from the potential setbacks that surgery can cause, all the while speeding up your return to good health.

It is heartening for me to see that various nutritional and physical care methods for expediting recovery after surgery are beginning to find their way into medical practice.  Surgeons now understand that hypnosis, guided imagery and other relaxation techniques can help patients relax before surgery and reduce the need for pain medications after surgery.  Lessening the need for anti-inflammatory medication may in turn enable the natural healing process to proceed more rapidly.

The mind-body methods laid out in The Rapid Recovery Handbook have the power to make people feel more peaceful and in harmony as they head into an operation.  These methods can also help you confront the myriad post-op challenges that can dramatically impact your life and the lives of family and friends.  Emotional well-being, coupled with the promising nutritional and lifestyle interventions proposed by these authors, helps lay the biochemical groundwork for substantially improved healing.

Clearly, as these authors show, there’s a great deal one can do to prevent unwanted outcomes and bring a quicker recovery.  By providing so many wonderful tools to work with, this clearly written, well-organized book will empower you to take the right steps to bounce back physically after surgery.  The Rapid Recovery Handbook is a must-read for anyone who finds themselves going under the knife.

– Mehmet C. Oz, MD

  • Professor and Vice-chair of surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University
  • Director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at NY-Presbyterian Hospital 
  • Health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show
  • Chief medical consultant to Discovery Communications
  • Author of  You: The Owner’s Manual, You: On A Diet, You: Staying Young

Endorsements for the Rapid Recovery Handbook:

“The Rapid Recovery Handbook is an excellent resource for both the patient and the physician.  It empowers the reader by providing the information necessary to complement their inspiration and desire to recover and heal rapidly. As we know the mind and body, when integrated, can do remarkable things. So read on and become an example and role model for others to learn from.”

— Bernie Siegel, MD • Former Yale surgeon • former President of the American Holistic Medical Association • Author of Love, Medicine & Miracles and Help Me To Heal

“This nifty manual provides a comprehensive and reliable roadmap for anyone who is contemplating or has embarked on a surgical adventure.  Don’t leave home without it.”

— Mark W. McClure, MD, FACS • Co-founder of Landmark Urology and Complementary Medicine • Author of Smart Medicine for a Healthy Prostate;  executive Editor, Health & Healing

“The Rapid Recovery Handbook is a powerful and effective resource for anyone facing surgery. As a surgeon who has recently been the patient in the operating room, I can tell you the strategies presented here work and should be integrated into standard care. Until then, buy this book!”

— Tracy W. Gaudet, MD • Former Director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine

“This innovative, helpful, and practical guide to optimizing your healing potential and enhancing the experience and results of surgery exemplifies the benefits of an integrative model of health care.  Recent research has shown that incorporating these easily learned mind-body, nutritional, bodywork and lifestyle approaches before, during, and after surgery is empowering for patients and leads to better health-care outcomes.  My colleagues and I have seen many patients who have used these approaches, and we have been continually impressed with the favorable impact on their recovery.”

— Susan Gaylord, PhD • Director, Program on Integrative Medicine,  UNC School of Medicine • Editor, Complementary Health Practice Review