Anxiety about anesthesia

I need to know, what kind of anesthesia is typically given for a hysterectomy? I believe I will be having a Total done, with the lovely abdominal incision, etc...

I ask because I have not had a chance to go in-depth with my Dr. about any of this yet, and I need to have footing for a battle if he wants me to have a spinal. I will not have another spinal done, I am only now feeling completely recovered from a botched one I had eight years ago, which led to a blood patch and 16 (yes, 16) spinal taps and a major back injury shortly thereafter.

I'm not a wimp, I've been through 6 major surgeries, and none of them were anywhere near as scarring emotionally as the spinal taps. I am almost in tears here, my body remembers the feeling of the needle scrrrrrrrtching against my vertebrae, and the agonizing pop of it breaking through into my spinal column.

So, eep! I'm sorry for being so wordy here, but I am having a lot of anxiety thinking about the possibility of something going wrong again.

Thanks for being patient with me, and helping me deal with this phobia.

~Po

Hi Po!

To my knowledge, they do not even perform total abdominals without general anesthesia. My instructions state it is discussed with the anesthesiologist whether or not they will add a spinal to the general.

Not sure if it varies depending on hospital policy but I was given the impression adding a regional (or spinal) was my choice.

Hope that helps!

I don't blame you a bit for being nervous; that would have me frightened too

I had a general for my tah/bso. It was discussed at my pre-op visit the day before surgery.

I think that you should discuss it with your dr ahead of time and let him/her know of your problems. There are options other than a spinal

I only had general anesthesia with my TAH. I wasn't given any other option. Good luck and I understand the anxiety completely!!

Your anesthesiologist should come in to speak with you just prior to your surgery. If not, make it plainly known beforehand to your surgeon what you definitely don't want. I'm sure they will respect your wishes, especially since you have experience in that area. They don't want to make you uncomfortable- their job is to keep that from happening. (I was also scared about that, as I had five botched attempts for an epidural when I had my second son. It was awful, didn't want to go there again!) Whatever they used for my LAVH 13 days ago worked great, and I only had a couple nauseous experiences that day.

I had general without a spinal...they did give me the option of a spinal but I passed...with the pca pump I felt no pain anyway...at least till they took it away! Good Luck!

I reluctantly went with the spinal, but am really glad I did. I didn't have any problems, nor did I have any type of pump afterward. For me, it was a good choice, and they did offer alternatives. I liked the 18-hour duration of the morphine and the elimination of the pump afterward.

For you, it sounds like the worst choice humanly possible. Definitely discuss your history, fears, and options with your surgeon and anesthesiologist before your surgery. I cannot imagine they don't have an alternate method they could use for you.

Best of luck to you.

When my sleeping doctor came in to talk to me he gave me the option of a spinal or general.

I agree you should talk to your surgeon and make it very clear how you feel about the spinal.

There were at least 3 other princesses at the castle with me and each of us had different sleeping arrangements.

I wish you the best!