Initially my surgeon said the same ( I have PMR for about 10 years, on 5 mg of prednisone for the last year prior to surgery). They wanted me totally off of prednisone prior to surgery. I told him that wasn’t possible. He did some further research and said that the research indicated that 15 mg was the limit, and since I was taking less than that, he did the surgery. He used additional antibiotics during surgery, but that was it. I suggest that you push back with your surgeon on that. Good luck.