9 days to go and I don't want to go to the castle!!!

Wow, I am back from my vacation and for the most part it did take my mind off the TAH on July 8th, but not totally. Even though I brought copies of all the wonderful supportive replies to my fears and read them over and over, I am still scared!!! Even though it seems that most who have gone through this have felt the pain wasn't intolerable and especially those who had an epidural as I will be doing, really said it was pretty easy....why am I still so scared???? I have a feeling I will be taking more ativan this week when I get really frightened, listening to my relaxation tapes and coming on line here. Anybody else feel the same?

You are feeling all of the normal anxiety jitters...just think positive..it will soon be over....I worked myself up so bad before my surgery that I postponed it and had to wait another month for it to be rescheduled...boy was I a fool...it was just another month of more jitters than I had before.....you will be fine and in another 2 weeks you will be 5 days into healing already....I was so afraid of the pain...and I had robotic uterus removal with mesh for cystocele and rectocele and had no pain whatsoever....all my worrying was for nothing...hope the same for you

You sound pretty normal to me
I was really nervous while I was waiting too. Staying busy helped me a lot.

What surprised me was that the day of my surgery I was very calm - maybe because the wait was over. I hope that you will be too.

Hang in there

S

i was the same way you are at 9 days. scared out of my mind. i am 6 days post-op and feel ok. i had a TVH. just take deep breaths and remember you will be just fine. get everything you need to get done in the next few days ok.
sending (((hugs))) your way

I am postop LSH/BSO 12 days and I am starting to feel myself. Believe me, I was just as nervous. My husband thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I went into the OR crying. But I did it. I feel good just bored now. I will keep you in my prayers and I'm sure you will be just fine. Sorry u have to go through this. It stinks.

I know how you feel. I went into my surgery with a severe phobia about general anesthesia, and what I would consider to be maybe extreme levels of fear and anxiety about surgery, hospitals and nurses. I'd never had surgery before and had no idea what to expect, and consequently expected something out of my worst nightmares. I must have driven my husband crazy asking, "If this is the right thing to do, and it will improve my life in every measurable way, why am I so terrified?"

The week before my surgery I was an emotional wreck, hitting pretty much every mood there was to hit in my mood swings. I took my Ativan when I needed and listened to my relaxation tape. What seemed to really help for me was playing my pre-surgery hypnosis tape just as I was going to bed. I fell asleep while listening to it the night before the surgery, and the message must have sunk in really well when I slept, because I was so calm and focused when I woke.

The nurse at my pre-op told me to take an Ativan before coming to the hospital, and that definitely helped shave the edge off the terror. I also made sure to tell my anesthesiologist that I was terrified of surgery, and wanted something that would calm me down and (most importantly for me) make me forget. She fixed me up as soon as the IV went in. I have no memory of what happened after that, but my husband tells me I was relaxed, cheerful and more than slightly loopy. In my experience, if you're open with your doctors and nurses about any fear you're feeling, they're more than willing to help you out.

I made it through just fine, and you will, too. You're tougher than you know, and you will get through this. And if you're anything like me, you'll wake up in the recovery room thinking, "I got so worked up about that?"

I feel the same way bear lover. (((HUGS)))

I went to the gyno/surgeon for my first visit on Friday. Had a repeat US and went over the results. Discussed options of BC pills to hysterectomy. At 43 I don't want to be on BC pills, but I hate the thought of major surgery as well. ugh I had colon surgery back in 96(first surgery) and was really scared to be put under. Once again am scared stiff of being put under and not waking up.
If my bleeding lasted 20+ days like some of you ladies my decision wouldn't be as hard I think. My pain/heavy bleeding of 7-8 days makes me feel like a wimp. I mean even though mine are shorter than some they are painful/heavy w/clots, and the anemia makes me want to sleep most of the time. I am currently on Chromagen and Metanx and will go back in a few days to get levels checked again.

I just am having a hard time coming to a decison if my 7-8 days is worth the risk of never waking up..that's my main fear I guess.

I know it has to be my decision but what would you guys do in my place? Any advice is appreciated! Thanks

Ruth/blondie

It is normal to be afraid. I know, that doesn't help much, but I was very, very scared. I have had surgeries before, but I can't take pain meds so it is very scary. I had issues with some antibiotics also that I HAD to make sure they didn't use. Lots of other fears/concerns.

You need to make sure you ask any questions you need to. I was asking questions on the OPERATING table, ha! Just things I wanted to know, like, why are you giving me oxygen before putting me under. The Aneth. doctor was so sweet. He answered the questions before the surgery and was so nice.

This forum is a huge help.

Find something to help yourself relax. Deep breaths really help me.

I am almost one month post op from my TAH BSO! Amazing.

Stay busy, shop for a pretty new nightgown or whatever would make you feel special after the surgery. I sure did that, ha. Bought a few! I felt so good while I shopped for them in a nice store where the lady helped me.

We are here and you will be taken care of at the hospital. They are there to help you stay comfortable. Best wishes!

It amazes me still how many women are really scared of the anesthesia. I get concerned about it only because I have an irregular heartbeat, but I can only let you know that the reason why there are pre-op questions and appointments and you talk with the anesthetist ahead of time is so that they know your medical history and can take into account any problems you may have. You don't have to be put under. You can opt for a spinal.

Secondly, you're probably going to confuse yourself on this one. Hold on to your seat, because once you realize how good you're going to feel once this is all over, you will probably get excited over it. Seriously. This really confuses a lot of women. Then you'll probably go back to being nervous, but that's normal. Just don't cancel or postpone.

I had a lot of options offered to me, so I did a lot of research. Education is your best friend right now. In the end, a lot of stuff happened to me I hadn't planned on, but it's all ok and I'm doing well and although my hysterectomy was because of heavy bleeding and cervical cancer, by removing my uterus, we found that it was about the size of 14-16 weeks pregnancy plus there were fibroids covering the exterior. If I hadn't had the surgery now, I probably would have had to have it at some point just because things were on the verge of rupturing.
Stay on top of your meds and follow the guidelines carefully you get here and listen to what your doc says. You'll do just fine.