Surgery

I'm having a hysterectomy on October 13th. I'm not so much nervous about the surgery. It's the putting under that makes me a nervous wreck.

Any suggestions?

Thank You,

Bernice

We all get nervous about the same thing. Well, at least most of us.

I tried to focus on the fact that lots and lots of people have different surgeries every day, and mostly they have general anesthesia. Worrying will not impact anybody's outcome, it will just make you feel worse.

Focus on the great things to come once the surgery is over. I am 6 months past my surgery and I have had the best summer ever.

Have you been put under before?

Sending positive vibes your way ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>>Have you been put under before?<<

No

Bernice

>>Sending positive vibes your way<<

Thank You

Bernice

I was terrified about the anesthesia as well! Here is what I did:
I talked to my doctor about it. She was very reassuring.
I spoke with the pre operative nurses at my pre op check up and told them ALL about my fears. These are the ladies who can make things happen. They noted my chart and contacted the doctors with my fears.
Then: I spoke with the anesthesiologist himself. He listened to my concerns, and my fears, which were based on my previous reactions to anesthesia (panic attack, and migraine side effects). He promised I wouldn't have the same thing happen, and he was right. He gave me a TON of anti anxiety meds prior to the surgery and prior to the administration of any anesthesia. By the time these meds took effect of me, I could have done the operation myself.!!

Communication is key! Be your best advocate. If there is osmething that will make it better for you, let everyone know about it!

Ditto to what younghyst said. It's not as scary as you think because, honestly, you have no clue it's happening. This was my 4th time going under and the last thing I remember was the anesthesiologist asking me if I felt anything yet to which I said "no." Then, maybe 3 seconds later I said "whoa" and that was that. Woke up in ICU smiling. The nurses kept teasing me about how all I did was smile. What they didn't know was I was so happy to be alive!

They have made so many improvements in the last few years regarding nausea and other side effects. A couple of surgeries ago, I had a reaction to the anesthesia and every muscle in my body froze up and I literally couldn't move for like 2 days. I told the anesthesiologist about that this time and he knew exactly why that happened and assured me it wouldn't happen this time. He was right!

Try not to worry about it--as best as you can. You won't know what's going on and that is a good thing!!!

For me, it was the best sleep I've had in a long time. I remember looking at the robot and waving to it, and then nothing until I woke up in recovery. I woke up instantly aware of the fact that I had a catheter, five minutes later I was back to sleep and woke up in my room.

In a way it is an interesting experience. You just have to let them take care of you and go along, which is something we all do very rarely.