fear

So many wonderful suggestions. I danced with my three year old today and held her so close to me. It meant so much to me. I talked with my 10 year old about all possibilities and remind her everyday I love her. What amazes me is that I look at the world and see and appreciate small things I never did before. I have faith in Jesus and God and know that they will be there for me and my daughters and husband. (How many 'ands' was that? hehe)


I wish all the best in life and in surgery.

Shannon

i was worrying about dying a lot. i think the problem is we all have so much time to think about this after making the decision to have the surgery. i actually researched the statistics and there is such a low probability that this helped. i am gong to a really good hospital with really good doctors. that makes me feel better. so i let go of the dying worry and now what i am worrying about is the postop pain. but I ordered two tapes to listen to about preparing your body for surgery and post surgery healing. they should arrive tomorrow and i will let you all know what i think. do whatever makes you feel better. hugs and know you are not alone. nancie

I'm much more worried about being killed in a car wreck on my way to the hospital than I am about anesthesia or surgery or anything else.

It's natural to have some apprehension of the unknown, because it's something we cannot control and it's something we don't deal with every day. But when you remove the control thing and look at it like any other risk, I'm much better off in the OR than I am on the highway.

We've become so accustom to getting in the car and driving around, but when you look at the statistics, more people are killed every year behind the wheel than from surgery. But, that fear isn't even in the realm of our reality, is it?? Why?? Because it's something we have dismissed from our reality; car wrecks aren't going to happen to us, right? Frankly, I'm more at risk of having some idiot coming off an all-night binge crashing head on into me on my way to the hospital than I am to anything that will happen to me in the hospital!

Of course surgery is scary, but I think you can drive yourself nuts with worry, which won't accomplish anything except give you ulcers and headaches. Try to let go of the fear and try to understand that fear of the unknown is natural, but it doesn't have to control you with that fear.

And buckle that seat belt!

my fear made me half crazy and now that it's over,12 days post-op, I wonder why I wasted so much energy! I'm amazed that I have any friends left as I made most of them nuts for the last 4 months that I knew I was having this operation.
I'm not going to suggest that anyone not be afraid because it's human nature to worry but for me I know that being anesthesized is not going to be one of my future concerns.
I went to sleep and the next thing I knew I was being wheeled to my room with my husband at my side. It was a pretty easy deal!

maribel--- wondering if you are all finished getting ready! you inspire me. nancie

Hi Nancie! Yup, I'm ready! Everything is all nice and clean and everything is in order. I haven't done much about preparing meals as the wonderful woman who's coming in to help said she'd take care of all that. I do have stuff on hand for soup and sandwiches, which is probably all I want for a couple days anyway. And, of course, I've got the required Jell-o!! You can't recouperate without Jell-o! Oh, and Popsicles, too!

PM me if you'd like...let me know how you're getting along, too! You're just a week away. I'm so glad my waiting time is nearly up! One more longgggg day tomorrow!

Mary

I certainly felt the same way. I didn't say much because I didn't want the A man to say something like "Well, I've done 700 operations and haven't lost one yet!" Because then I would have felt he was due and I was sure I'd be the one! At some point I just put the whole matter into God's hands. Not sure what else can be done. You hang in there, everything will be just fine. I am 54 and this was my very first surgery of any kind so I was terrified. But all of the people were extremely competent and I felt as comfortable as I could have been.