Anyone afraid of what they may find during surgery?

Hi Sisters,

I'm pretty new here and not having a great day. I'm mostly postive but today am trying to find the silver lining. I am a single mom of 2 and have my date set for June 20th. I know I can handle the recovery and hope my fitness will assist in making that easier. What I'm more afraid of is what they may find while they are performing the surgery? Am i alone in this worry?

Anything you have to share with will be helpful. I've been on this site for a while today in between work breaks.

SCARED!!!

I have the same fear. Unlike many of the women on this site. I am not in pain, or have bad monthly cycles or anything. I was diagnosed with Adnocarcinoma CIN II,and since there are no symptoms, I am doing this to prevent having cancer. Because with my family history of women having female cancers, I am afraid to wait and see, so I am doing it now.

Hi
You are definitely not alone in your fear!! That was my biggest fear prior to surgery. When I had my surgery i faced my biggest fear- they unexpectedly found an ovarian tumor- I lost my left ovary but the tumor was benign. Although frightening experience I wouldn't change anything ....because without surgery might have turned into cancer. Take a deep breathe and take each day at a time. The waiting is the worst part and once you get the surgery behind you will feel so much better. Take care and hang in there.

I have been fine so far, but now that i actually have a date set the whole thing is becomming much more real.

I figure I'll worry about that if they tell me they found something. I'm worried enough about the surgery itself, I don't want to think about even more "what ifs." I'm just trying to manage my upcoming surgery in chunks that I can deal with.

Tmckenna- I too am so scared about what they may find. My surgery is June 18th, I am having a hysterectomy due to abnormal bleeding, heavy bleeding, and cervical cancer. I had a cold knife cone biopsy done last may and they did not get all of the affected part of my cervix out, but the part they did not get was sever pre-cancer up in, so I had to have colposcopies done every 3 months. I am worried when they do my hysterectomy they are going to find out its worse up in now. I am a nervous wreck and not sleeping at all. I'm sure we will be okay in the end and everything will be fine

I had the same fear. No reason to worry....that's just my nature. I also went through every possible dire scenario that could happen during surgery....none of which did, thankfully! The worry is normal and it's easy for me to say "don't worry".
The thing I didn't worry about was the recovery...and I should have planned better for it. If you have two kids, be sure that you have help, especially if they are little. You will need to rest, rest and rest some more. I was in great shape, but was so surprised at how wiped out I was for the first 4-5 weeks. Still at almost 8 weeks, I'm exhausted after a full day of work and caring for my 5 year old.
Try to plan now and line up lots of help because you will need it. Maybe that will give you less time to worry! Best of luck and I wish for all of you the uneventful surgery and recovery that I had!

I definitely had the same fear. I think most women do. I had no symptoms pre-surgery but was diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, a genetic mutation which put me at a high risk for, among other cancers, uterine (75% chance) and ovarian cancers (35% chance) and I had a scary family history. My TAH was purely preventive but it was just as big a deal. Thankfully the doctors found NOTHING cancerous. I do not regret having everything (uterus, cervix, tubes, ovaries) removed. In fact now I sleep a little easier knowing that I won't have to worry about getting those cancers ever!

My recovery wasn't too bad at all. I only needed percocet for the first 5 days and stopped taking motrin completely after two weeks. I had a little spotting during weeks 3 and 4 but nothing that a pantiliner couldn't handle. Now I'm 5 weeks post-op and my biggest complaint is the fatigue and menopausal symptoms (hot and cold flashes) that I get from time to time.

Try not to stress yourself out too much. Let yourself be pampered as much as possible. I was lucky enough to have many friends and family members who offered to help out and, although I would've preferred to do everything myself, I found the extra help to be exactly what I needed. Good luck to everyone with up-coming surgeries!

I was a wreck because I had ovarian cysts and an elevated CA-125. I just had the horrible fear I was going to wake to find I had cancer. Thankfully everything was benign but Dr. said it was one of the worst cases of endometreosis he had ever seen. I think it is normal to worry especially when there is even a small chance it could be something bad. On top of that I had never had any kind of surgery and I was half way convinced I would never wake up. I will say a prayer you get good results it sounds like they had kept a close eye on you. It certainly helps with recovery when you have the relief of finding our your fears did not come true.

Hey Sisters

I think that most of us have fears prior to surgery and get a bit shaky. Just remember that you have lots of support in your 'Sisters' and you can talk about pretty much anything and express how you feel without being judged or made to feel silly for asking questions.
I had LAVH after 30 odd years of pain, flooding, fibriods and embarrassment. While it hasn't been a smooth ride for me, only because of infections and being allergic to just about every antibiotic known to man, I am so glad that I had it done and gynealogically speaking, I feel great.