Paly ABC - TREATMENT

At the Paley European Institute, the patient is cared for by an entire team of specialists who help guide him through the meanderings of the treatment process. After initial consultations and examinations, the patient receives his or her individualized plan, which includes complete and reliable information about the treatment path from the beginning to the end of the therapeutic process.

Our team is open to talking and accompanying patients at every stage of treatment. We encourage them to take an active part in the entire process - asking questions, sharing their doubts, anxieties, but also successes and moments of joy. In the treatment process, medical personnel and the patient have traditionally focused primarily on the body. Increasingly, however, professionals, including Paley European Institute staff, as well as patients are paying attention to the emotional and mental health aspect. The body is inextricably linked to the psyche. Studies report that depression or anxiety disorders occurring before or following surgery can slow down and impede wound healing, and the patient spends longer time in the hospital as a result. With this in mind, a psychologist is available to meet with our patients at every stage of treatment.

When illness affects us, it affects not only the body, but also our mood. One has to face pain, disappointment, lost hopes. Putting one's health in the hands of another person makes us extremely vulnerable and can trigger a range of strong emotions. Patients who choose to receive treatment at the Paley European Institute are usually those who require long-term physiotherapy and physician care. They often need several surgical interventions to improve the quality of their lives. Hence, it is extremely important to prepare for the process and get support - not only informational, but also emotional.

Patients undergoing elective orthopedic surgery are in a slightly more comfortable position than those who need emergency surgery. They have time to prepare themselves physically and mentally for what awaits them. However, treatment anxiety is a perfectly natural thing and cannot be eliminated completely.

During surgery, the body suffers a controlled trauma. And while the body can recover efficiently and quickly from it, the mind needs more time to do so. Hence, it is common for patients to report sleep disturbances and mood swings for some time after surgery. The most common complaint in this regard usually relates to decreased energy and lowered mood. Within a few weeks after surgery, everything should return to balance. However, any disturbing mood changes (including prolonged ones) are worth discussing with your doctor, physiotherapist or psychologist. At such times, it is better to act early than too late.

In the treatment process, parents are just as important as the little patient. They are the ones who usually operate at high speed and are fully mobilized during their children's treatment. While this is difficult, especially when all the responsibilities fall on the shoulders of one person, it is worth looking at your adult emotions as well. Being overloaded with childcare issues sometimes leads to a situation where, after the treatment stage is over, when it's time to temporarily calm down, instead of resting, the parent experiences a significant drop in mood, intense anxiety or a severe cold. The body finally doesn't have to mobilize, and instead of spending the time on a dream rest, there is an unwinding of all the tensions accumulated up to that point.

When starting treatment, it is a good idea to look at your expectations for the therapeutic process. Every person dreams of health and fitness. Even more so when he is a parent and thinking about his child. Wanting the best for your child, it is easy to fall into the trap of excessive expectations about the results of treatment. That's why it's a good idea to discuss everything thoroughly with the treating physician so you know what is possible and what is not. It's also a good idea to include your child in such a conversation, especially when he's old enough to talk about his plans and hopes on his own. Ask the child how he or she envisions the treatment process and what changes he or she would like to experience. Some of them will certainly happen. Others will perhaps be impossible to realize, in which case it is worth addressing the emotions of regret and disappointment.

The results of treatment sometimes have to wait a long time. In the meantime, discouragement and questions of "why all this? Was it really worth it?" Reminding ourselves then why we undertook the treatment and what results it will bring can be a helpful strategy. In the case of children, recording videos of, for example, successive physiotherapy classes, and then comparing what progress has already been made, can work just as well. Making visible what we have already achieved works extremely motivating. It shows us that it was worth the effort.

Sources of knowledge and inspiration that led to this article:

Britteon, P., Cullum, N., & Sutton, M. (2017). Association between psychological health and wound complications after surgery. British Journal of Surgery