I have a very relevant anecdote:

My grandfather was an open-heart surgeon. In the days following surgery, he would always insist that his patients get up and take a short walk. They would not want to, but he insisted that this was an important and valuable part of recovery (in several dimension) and that they needed to push past resistance and force themselves to do it.

Later in life, he underwent a surgery requiring general anesthesia and found himself in the same position. He said, "If I had known it was like that, I would not have made them do it."

So I think the surgeon's personal experience of the situation is -- in fact -- highly relevant in practice, even if not in theory.