Built to Recover
Your Guide to Preparing for Surgery
Recovery doesn't begin in the recovery room. It begins with you.
When surgery is on the calendar, waiting can be the hardest part. It can feel as if everything is in other people's hands. But the weeks before your operation give you a real chance to prepare. This is prehabilitation: building the strength, reserves and calm that carry you through recovery.
Written for the person facing surgery, not the specialist.
Dr. Silvaggio knows surgery from both sides of the operating table: as a physician for sixteen years, and as a patient preparing for his own major cancer operation. Built to Recover is the guide he wishes he'd had.
- You have surgery coming up, whether it's weeks or months away
- You're supporting someone who does
- You want a clear plan, in plain language, at any fitness level
Every copy gives back. All proceeds from Built to Recover are donated to cancer research and cancer support programmes through Childhood Cancer Canada.
Four pillars of preparation.
Each chapter explains the evidence in plain language and ends with clear steps you can take, plus an action summary to share with your care team.
Nutrition
Bank protein and fuel your body for healing.
Physical fitness
Build strength and stamina for the road ahead, at any starting level.
Respiratory fitness
Strengthen your breathing before surgery.
Psychological preparedness
Ease anxiety and gather the support you need.
See the full table of contents
- Introduction
- The First Pillar: Nutrition
- What Is Nutrition?
- The Role of Protein
- The Role of Carbohydrates
- The Role of Immunonutrients: The Benefits of Vitamin D
- My Personal Experience
- The Second Pillar: Physical Fitness
- Understanding Your Physical Fitness
- Physical Fitness: Recommendations
- My Personal Experience
- The Third Pillar: Respiratory Fitness
- Understanding and Strengthening Your Respiratory Fitness
- Respiratory Fitness Training: Recommendation
- My Personal Experience
- The Fourth Pillar: Psychological Preparedness
- Elements of Psychological Preparedness
- Psychological Interventions: An Overview
- Recommendations for Building Psychological Preparedness
- My Personal Experience
- The Integrated Approach
- Bringing the Pillars Together
- The Surgical Triad
- Progress, Not Perfection, and Doing Something Is Always Better than Doing Nothing
- Appendix A: Action Summary
- Appendix B: Sources of Protein
- Appendix C: The MOS Social Support Survey
- Bibliography
From the introduction.
“I think you have cancer. I’m sending you for an urgent scan.”
Those were the first words I heard when I woke up. I was still disoriented from the anesthesia, having just undergone both a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy.
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The procedure room was coming back into my focus slowly, as I was struggling to piece together what the gastroenterologist was saying to me. I had been passing blood for a few days and had assumed it was something common and relatively benign, perhaps hemorrhoids or a minor ulcer. I never expected to hear the word “cancer.” I was forty-two years old and had always lived what I considered a healthy life. I didn’t smoke. I ate well, choosing whole foods and avoiding processed meals whenever possible. I didn’t drink alcohol; at least, nothing beyond the occasional social glass of wine at dinner with friends. I exercised three or four times a week, mixing cardio with strength training. How could I possibly have cancer at this age? What had I done wrong?
Something shifted for me as I moved through the endless appointments to eventually be diagnosed and begin treatment for what would be classified as stage 1 esophageal cancer. Somewhere between the CT scans and the oncology consultations, between the treatment-planning sessions and the difficult conversations with my family, I stopped wondering “Why me?” and started asking “What can I do about this?” Empowered, I started reading everything I could find about my condition and my treatment. I would do whatever I could to ensure that the outcomes of my treatments were the best they could be. I made a conscious choice to take control of every aspect I could to improve my chances of not just surviving my medical treatment, but thriving through it and emerging in the best possible condition on the other side.
It was during this early phase of my treatment that I came across the concept of “prehabilitation.” In its simplest form, prehabilitation is the process of preparing your body and mind for surgery through specific, targeted actions.
As I saw it, it was the surgeon’s job to make sure I got through the operation with the cancer removed. It was my job to make sure I went into surgery with the best possible level of fitness, both mentally and physically.
From Built to Recover by Mathew Peter Silvaggio, MD. © 2026. All rights reserved.
Choose your format.
Choose "Hardcover" on the Amazon page · ISBN 978-1-0680455-2-3
Choose "Paperback" on the Amazon page · ISBN 978-1-0680455-1-6
On Amazon, choose "Kindle" · ISBN 978-1-0680455-0-9
More bookstores will carry the print editions soon.
- PublisherHG Press, Toronto
- EditionFirst edition, 2026
- FormatsHardcover, paperback, eBook
- IllustrationsAgustina Barriola
Mathew Peter Silvaggio, MD, is a board-certified physician with sixteen years of clinical experience at Trillium Health Partners. Diagnosed with cancer at forty-two, he used the principles in this book to prepare for his own major surgery, and went home on day five.
The information in this book and on this site is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always talk with your own surgeon or surgical team before making changes before surgery.