We spend a lot of time in our lives preparing for a lot of things. Preparing for the most important things can take some effort and be fairly time consuming. To that end, preparation can make the difference between everything that can go wrong, going wrong, and being so much easier than you’d ever imagined.
If you know ahead of time that you will undergo a surgical procedure, you would be well advised to prepare your body. It’s simply worth the effort.
THE BODY KNOWS RIGHT AWAY
Regardless of the reason you require surgery, surgery is and always will be a triggering event which your body responds to. What that means is that before the first incision is even made, your body has been alerted that something is coming. Maybe an IV was started. Antibiotics, fluids, anesthesia, etc. Your state of mind has certainly been affected. You’re aware of what’s coming. Stress levels have increased, you may be worrying about the outcome, etc.
You are aware, and your body has already started its response. Have you given your body what it needs to make all of the necessary repairs? Is your body scrambling to find the building blocks, the tools? Are the detoxification pathways cleared and ready?
Recovering from explant surgery is not just about being one of the first, necessary steps to begin healing from Breast Implant Illness. It’s actually its own thing. And if you prepared for it, you can recover so much easier than if you didn’t.
Continuing on from Part 1 in this series. If you didn’t read that, please go do that first!
THE 3 RULES:
- Control Inflammation
- Maintain the body’s ability to deliver nutrients to organs, tissues and cells
- Maintain the energy to control inflammation and deliver nutrients
THE GOALS
To make surgery, recovery + healing as easy as possible on your body To make recovery + healing as joyful and pain-free as possible To lay the foundation for a much easier long-term healing + detoxification process
HOW TO CONTROL INFLAMMATION, MAINTAIN ABILITY TO DELIVER NUTRIENTS + MAINTAIN ENERGY NECESSARY TO DO BOTH OF THOSE THINGS
I’m going to just touch on the basics of preparing your body for surgery as quickly as possible, in case, let’s say you only have a small amount of time to optimize your body’s ability to recover and heal.
As mentioned previously, the focus remains on controlling inflammation, efficient delivery of nutrients necessary to heal and repair cells, tissues and organs, and maintaining the energy to do both of these things.
For the most part (again, basics here), we’ll be attempting to boost and optimize the immune system (inflammation control), metabolic and methylation pathways (nutrient delivery), and the mitochondria (energy).
TO GET STARTED
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- Remove dietary contributors to inflammation
Inflammatory Food - Remove toxic water + air as much as possible consider adding water distiller + air filter
- Remove toxic personal care products as much as possible remove synthetic fragrances and consider switching to non-toxic makeup + bathing
- Remove toxic household products as much as possible laundry, kitchen, cooking, plastics (especially for food), etc.
- Remove stress as much as possible toxic people, situations, relationships, etc.
- Practice sleep hygiene put phone on airplane mode, turn of wifi, TV, and other light sources at night, get at least 8 hours of sleep
- Practice daily movement walking, stretching, light exercise if tolerated
- Add targeted supplements for support
Of course all of these things require effort. You may have heard this bit of tough love before, but you lived your way into it, you’ll have to live your way out of it.
To put it simple, when it comes to food, you’ll really just need to remove the junk. If you have to read an ingredient list, it’s likely you should remove it for this period of time. There are some exceptions to this rule (jar of organic olives, organic avocado-oil mayo, or other things with a few basic ingredients – use your best judgement)
If you have any issues with allergies or sensitivities to any particular food/ food group or if you have issues with histamine reactions in general, you’ll want to make sure you eliminate those foods, as well as foods high in histamine to help lower inflammation during this period of time.
BASIC FOODS REMOVE LIST
Gluten Dairy (optional – listen to your body – if you react to dairy, remove it) Soy Sugar Alcohol GMO Foods Inflammatory Seed Oils
corn, soybean, canola All Processed Meats ALL Processed Grains
Also remove any and all foods you react to in a negative way after eating:
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- bloating, discomfort, tiredness, fatigue, cravings, dissatisfaction in general
- keep this in mind when adding new foods you may believe are “healthy”
- if you react to it, get rid of it – not forever, for now
BASIC FOODS ADD LIST
This list is not an exhaustive list, but just some examples of foods known to contribute a great deal to healing, rebuilding and providing the energy required by the body to do these things.
Organic Whole Foods Only Diet
Grass Fed Beef
Free Range Organic Eggs
Wild Caught Salmon (no farmed) Fermented Foods (sour kraut, organic pickles, organic sugar-free yogurt, kimchi)
Grass Fed Dairy (butter/ghee)
Organic Bone Broth
Organic Fruits + Vegetables
Organic Fresh Juice Celery
Organic Healthy Fats
Avocados (+oil)
Olives (+oil)
Coconuts (+oil)
Ghee, Tallow
SUPPLEMENTS
Supplementation is probably the easiest addition when it comes to any protocol, and luckily there are some good ones to reduce inflammation, enhance nutrient delivery + maintain energy.
For pre-surgery, use caution with supplementation. It’s important you check with your surgeon about what supplements you can take in the weeks leading up to surgery. For the purposes of this article, I’m recommending you stop all supplements your surgeon does not approve of 3 weeks before surgery (with the exception of the Vita Medica Surgery Program supplements listed below).
It’s important to note that a lot of the supplements that do one thing, do another. For example, a lot of the energy production supplement recommendations will also immensely help to control inflammation, and so on. So while I am going to separate out which supplements to take for what, many of them will help in more than one category and some in all categories.
Inflammation Control
Glutathione (pre + post surgery)
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- anti-inflammatory
- detox (anesthesia)
- helps with nutrient delivery
- can be taken via capsules, IV infusion, sublingual drops or topical cream
- glutathione cream can be applied directly to incision once healed
Methylated B-Vitamins
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- folate + b12
Vitamin D
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- I never recommend supplementing synthetic vitamin D
- ONLY get your vitamin D from the sun, or a safe light alternative
Magnesium Probiotics (pre + post surgery) Beta Glucans
Nutrient Delivery
B Vitamin Complex
Energy Production | Mitochondria Support
Acetyl-L-Carnitine CoQ10 Glutathione PQQ Turmeric Resveratrol Zinc NAC Alpha-Lipoic-Acid Vitamin C NAD/Nicotinamide Riboside Sulforaphane
NOTES ON SUPPLEMENTS + MY BRAND PREFERENCES
There are thousands of supplement brands to choose from. As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, I only work with vetted brands who’ve shown proven efficacy in whatever it is that supplement is meant to do. And, while I stand by each of the ingredient recommendations from above, I do have my preferences on where they come from.
It’s important to understand how many supplements out there end up being not much more than expensive pee, poop and sweat. No, really. Nutrients that are not bioavailable inside your body do nothing for you and can end up just being more work for your liver for no positive effect. Feel free to reach out to me, personally, for my brand recommendations.
Coming Soon, I’ll have my recommended supplement stacks bundled in my shop, for each of these categories:
Inflammation Control
Nutrient Delivery
Energy Production | Mitochondria Support
In the meantime, feel free to create an account and search through my shop for anything you’d like to try, right here.
Before Using Any Supplement
I always recommend getting your foundational nutrients from food and whole food sources first. When using a nutrient or a supplement complex therapeutically, again I’ll only recommended well vetted and reputable brands that do not use harmful synthetics.
EXTRAS
IV Vitamin C (talk to your surgeon about this)
Positive Affirmations During Surgery
Make or find an appropriate audio recording to be played while you are in surgery.
Guided Imagery (Before + After Surgery)
Therapeutic Touch Therapy Post Surgery
Reiki Energy Healing
Cordyceps
Bromelain
Manifestation
Curcumin
Zinc
Omega 3s (ask your surgeon when to stop taking before surgery)
BONUS INFORMATION MAINTAIN DRAINAGE (KEEP DIGESTION MOVING!)
Drainage is often overlooked when it comes to the cascading effect it can have on inflammation, nutrient delivery and energy production. But, let’s cut to the chase: in order to keep the focus on controlling inflammation, proper nutrient delivery and energy production, your body cannot be side-dealing with recirculating toxins due to a stagnant digestive system you need to be pooping daily, period.
There are tons of reasons why digestion could be stagnant but the most common are:
Low stomach acid Lack of digestive enzymes
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- pancreas issues
- gallbladder issues (clogged ducts, stones)
- liver issues
Unbalanced microbiome
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- not enough good bacteria
- too much opportunistic bacteria
- bacterial infection (h-pylori, etc.)
- parasitic infection (blastocystis hominis, flukes, worms)
Toxin Overload Vagus Nerve Damage (sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system) Stress (always in fight/flight)
While there are ways to address these drainage issues on a deeper level once you are post-surgery, for the purposes of keeping digestion flowing pre-surgery, there are some supplements that could help to keep you regular should you need an extra push.
TO KEEP DIGESTION MOVING
TUDCA (gall bladder support) Milk Thistle (live support r) Marshmallow Root (liver support) Burdock Root (lymph support) Sheep Sorrel (lymph support) Triphala (colon support) Oxy Powder (colon support) (toxin) Binder Digestive Enzymes (pancreas, gallbladder, liver support) HCL (stomach acid support) Pre + Probiotics (microbiome) Thiamine (vagus nerve support) Alpha GPC (vagus nerve support)
THERAPIES TO CONSIDER PRE-SURGERY
Cold Shock Therapy
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- Regular shower, followed by blast of cold water on face and chest for at least 30 seconds
Heat Shock Therapy
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- Following above cold shock therapy, return shower to hot, then back to cold
- I recommend against using a sauna pre-explant
Exercise Daily
- Stretching, walking, yoga
- 20 minutes of some type of body movement
Optimize Sleep
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- To bed no later than 10PM
- 7-9 hours of sleep per night
Pre-Surgery IV Glutathione (you can ask your surgeon/functional doc for this service) Castor Oil Packs Coffee Enema Dry Brushing Breathwork Red Light Therapy
SOME SUPPLEMENTS NEED TO BE STOPPED PRIOR TO SURGERY
It’s important to TALK TO YOUR SURGEON about supplements in the weeks before surgery!
3 WEEKS PRE-SURGERY STOP
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- Vitamin E
- ALL SUPPLEMENTS NOT APPROVED BY YOUR SURGEON
2 WEEKS PRE-SURGERY STOP
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- blood thinning/blood moving foods + supplements
- Omega 3s | Fish Oils
PRE-SURGERY SAFE SUPPLEMENTS
3 WEEKS PRE-SURGERY
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- CONTINUE All Supplements that do not contain Vitamin E
- CONTINUE Any anti-inflammatory, nutrient building, energy building to prep for surgery as long as it does not contain Vitamin E or conflict w/surgeon approvals
2 WEEKS PRE-SURGERY
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- STOP ALL SUPPLEMENTS
- START Vita Medica Surgery Program
3 DAYS PRE-SURGERY
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- CONTINUE Vita Medica Surgery Program
- START Vita Medica Bromelain w/Quercetin
KEY POINTS
Eat Whole Organic Foods Switch to Distilled Water Sleep (extremely important) Exercise Stress Reduction (extremely important) Supplements
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
Most of what I offered is very general, but the information is there. You have a basic structure on which to build your foundational healing protocol, and to get through surgery without a lot of pain and suffering. Please make sure you learn about any supplement, therapy or modality you choose on your healing journey, before choosing to use.
As a Practitioner, there’s a lot more I can do to help one-to-one, on an individual basis, but the fact of the matter is, I need more information. As I’ve mentioned many times inside this group, Breast Implant Illness is extremely individual – affects each and every woman differently. So, while these tips, basic rules are an outline of what every woman should be attempting to follow, again, everyone is different.
And of course, I could provide a detailed outline of every possible supplement, therapy, brand I recommend in every possible scenario, but my time is not spent best doing that since not everyone will need everything (nor is even close to everyone reading the information I share). It would be a game of trying to figure out which thing you needed and when, how, why, etc.
To that end, when a practitioner has more information about the individual, a much more customized plan can be made for that individual. Specific recommendations for diet and supplementation can be made, optimized for that individual.
AFTER IT’S ALL SAID AND DONE
Post-surgery is going to be at least a little bit of a challenge. No one gets out of it like nothing at all happened. And your body will be working as hard as it’s ever worked to heal surgical wounds, repairing the damage, clearing the anesthesia, putting out the fires and still doing all it does to keep you alive.
Your body is amazing! And so smart. Smarter than any one of us is ever able to convey without downplaying that level of innate intelligence we are humbled to understand even just a little bit.
Give yourself time to heal.
And, give yourself all of the advantages possible. The tools your body needs to do the work while your mind and body rests. The cells will be working hard. Your organs will be doing overtime. You’ll have a conscious awareness of what’s happening in your body based on how you feel. You’ll know if your body has the tools to do all of this, based on how you feel. The harder it has to work, the worse you will inevitably feel.
Avoid the brain fog that comes post-surgery from the depletion of folate and zinc. Provide the boost of glutathione that will be required to clean up the anesthesia and keep the inflammation under control. Keep digestion flowing!
Caring for yourself pre-surgery makes all the difference in the world after surgery. And what’s required for you to maintain a stress-free, pain-free, relaxing recovery will depend on your pre-surgery preparation.
You can certainly just get through the surgery without following any of the rules. But, there’s a chance you will require ongoing pain-management by way of pharmaceuticals, which are just another toxin your body needs to work to remove. There’s another chance that pharmaceutical methods don’t work as well as you need them to. They can contribute to the brain fog, later. They can slow down recovery, and add to the toxic load you’ll be addressing once you are recovered.
It’s up to you. Just know that post surgical recovery it does not have to be a tough and miserable situation.
My hope is that my tips make it as easy for you, as it was for me.
IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH ME PRE OR POST SURGERY
If you’re getting ready to explant and would like some one to one guidance on how to prepare for surgery, I’d like to offer you a free consultation to see if I can help. Click the link below to schedule your free consult today.
