Preparing for your surgery holiday

Planning, preparation and aftercare

What do you need to know and prepare for to get the most from your surgery holiday? We have asked the advice and recommendations from the experts: straight from the surgeons, nurses and past clients.

 

Health and Psychological considerations

It has been shown that the most important factor to achieve patient satisfaction following surgery is proper patient selection. This means that not everyone is suitable for cosmetic surgery. We have to have clear guidelines to select suitable candidates and weed out those who will not benefit greatly from surgery.

The ideal candidate for cosmetic surgery is an adult who is physically and mentally healthy, free of any physical or mental illness, and is normal body weight. She or he must have realistic expectations and is highly motivated for the procedure and aware of what the surgery entails. The candidate must seek surgery only for self-improvement and not for any unrelated relationship goals.

Health status and preparation

Cosmetic surgery is only offered to patients free of any major health problems, such as: diabetes, heart disease, respiratory, kidney and liver diseases.

Smoking: Smokers have a higher chance of developing wound complications and tissue breakdown following surgery. Therefore it is important that people give up smoking completely for at least 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after surgery. Nicorette gum and nicotine patches release the harmful vasoconstrictor and cannot be used.

Aspirin: It is highly recommended to stop taking Aspirin 2 weeks before surgery.

Diet and supplements
It is best to prepare your body and mind for surgery, and to be in the best possible health as possible before your surgery. As soon as you book for surgery, it is best to prepare your immune system and health by eating fresh, wholesome and non-fatty foods, and exercising everyday. It is also good to take vitamin and herbal supplements in the months before surgery to ensure your body is at its peak. This will ensure proper healing and recovery.

Many clients have recommended taking the herb Arnica which helps repair tissue damage, swelling and bruising and promotes healing.

Body weight: The measure of ideal body weight is BMI or Body Mass Index, which is a ratio of body weight in Kg to height in metres squared. Normal BMI is between 18 to 25. Candidates who are more than 15kg over the ideal body weight are not good candidates for cosmetic surgery such as liposuction or abdominoplasty, because these procedures are designed only for body sculpting and are definitely not for weight reduction.

Doing surgery on overweight or obese patients will not achieve the goals and only result in patient dissatisfaction and higher chance of complications. Overweight patients should enter an exercise and diet regime to lose weight to near normal level and become suitable candidates.

Preparation and planning - what you need to know and take

Medical Garments
For your comfort and better support and results, we recommend you purchase a medical compression garment. We have a very high quality brand from the USA. You can view the garments here.

You can place an order before you travel if you know exactly what you want, or you can wait until the surgeon recommends what garments are best for you. If you do not want to purchase these, please take good quality sports bras if you are having breast surgery, and long compression tights in a couple of different sizes.

You will be fitted with these by a specialist and you can pay her by cash or credit card.

Currency and Spending money
We advise you to take credit cards, travelers cheques or your own currency, and to change only a small amount of money before your surgery, just to cover small expenses, for any meals or taxis you want in the first day. After your surgery you can change more money at the hotel or in the shopping centres. Nearly everywhere takes credit card – Visa or Mastercard – for shopping, however you will need cash shopping in the markets or taking taxis or the monorail.

Credit cards: It is best to pay with your surgery by credit card or cash as Travellers cheques can attract higher fees. Although the hospital and most places do not add fees to credit card transactions, your bank may, so it is important to check with your bank before you depart what the fees and currency conversion rates are.

Before you depart your country, please inform your bank that you will be travelling, as many banks can stop international transactions thinking it is fraud. You are not able to go ahead with surgery until all fees are paid to the hospital, the administration will assist you if you are having problems with your bank, but it is in your interest to ensure that your credit card is approved so not to delay your surgery.

Cash: do not change money to the local currency before you depart, as there is a limit to the amount of local currency you can bring into the country. If you want to take large amounts of cash, take it in your own currency as travelers cheques and change it when you get to Malaysia - our managers can assist you with this by taking you to a safe bank nearby. There is no limit to the amount of foreign currency you can take into Malaysia or Thailand.

Weather
Malaysia and Thailand doesn’t differ that much in temperature year round. It hovers between 30-32 degrees and is usually very humid.

Packing
Tips for packing for your holiday in Malaysia or Thailand:
- Don't pack much, the shopping is great and you will probably come back with too much
- Malaysia and Thailand are conservative societies, so cover up with light clothing: t-shirts and long shorts, long skirts. Natural fibres and casual clothing is best, such as long cotton shirts and skirts are best to keep you cool.
- The hotel, and most indoors (including trains), are all air-conditioned, so you can dress up when you go out.
- Cover-up is necessary to keep scars out of the sun: hats, sunscreen, scarves.
- If you are having any face treatments, bring a scarf for your head and face and big dark sunglasses.

Asian Culture
Malays and Thais are extremely friendly people, and you will find they go out of their way to help you. However, you must be aware that their culture is different in some respects, especially in regards to the western understanding of time. You may find that they are not focused on specific appointment times, as they are people orientated rather than time orientated. Please be patient and understand that this is not a reflection on the quality, it is simply a cultural difference.

What to take for your Hospital Stay
Wear loose, comfortable clothing

Before Surgery

After care

Depending on the treatments that you have, you will stay between 1-4 nights in hospital. If you are having a tummy tuck, you may have drains for the duration of your stay, which are taken out before discharge. On discharge from the hospital you will be given take home medications, which include:

- Antibiotics
- Anti-swelling tablets
- Pain relievers
- Sleeping pills

It is important to take your medications as directed, if you are unsure or require more, please ask your surgeon at your follow up consultation or ask one of the GG managers.

The surgeon will also suggest the following for optimal recovery:

- plenty of rest and relaxation in the days after surgery, ensure that you don't do anything too strenuous, including shopping in the first few days - there will be lots of time for this!

- saunas and heat/cold packs - this is recommended to drain excess fluids naturally. Patients who have 1 or 2 saunas a day and are diligent with applying heat packs (or hot towels) to the affected areas tend to recover quicker than those who do not

- gentle walking - it is important to move the body everyday to keep the blood circulating and your spirits up!

- phoning home and meeting others - in the days after surgery you may feel down with the pain and medication, so it is important in these days to keep your spirits up by meeting other people - the great thing about travelling with GG is that there will be other ladies and men who are going through the same as you! It is great to share a laugh and stories of your adventure, many people have become great friends on their holiday. Don't hesitate to tell our managers your feelings, they are experienced and can help you should you require.

- scar fading creme - there are a number of scar healing cremes on the market, you can ask your local chemist or GP about these before you leave. One of the best on the market is Cica-Care - which is a gel combined with patches. The surgeon can also prescribe you a creme and you can purchase this from the hospital or pharmacy. There is also an Arnica Gel or Creme which you can apply to wounds, it is best to purchase this prior to departing.

 

If you have any questions, please ask your GG manager at any time!

Get a free quote for your surgery holiday here