Discovery Health Channel

You ladies are scaring me. My gyn says I will have general anesthesia for my upcoming TAH. At this point that is what scares me the most. The possibility of waking up during the surgery, of being put to sleep and never waking up, or waking up nauseous and vomiting. These are my anxieties and I have to keep telling myself everything will be fine. I had two major ortho surgeries and for both, I requested a spinal, and it went well. My gyn does not want to do it with a spinal. It's a good thing I did not watch that show, because I am already nervous.

Hi ladies,

Sending some gentle hugs to all the LIW.

It seems like there are so many things to be afraid of when you're a LIW ... this anesthesia program sure doesn't help. Like Karen mentioned above, I've been posting here at Hystersisters for 2 years now and I don't remember reading ANY posts from ladies who had this happen during their surgery. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I believe this is extremely rare.

Yes, a hyst is major surgery and there can be complications. We all know that and are advised accordingly during pre op appointments. But most ladies do just fine and have very minor, if any, complications at all. Personally - I didn't have any problems at all ... no infections, no problems with anesthesia, no bladder problems, nothing.

Please try to focus on the positive aspects of having this surgery ... a return to health and getting back to living your lives! I know it's terrifying right now, but you will make it and we'll be here for you, every step of the way.

Sending positive energy your way.

Beth

Hi ladies, I've only been at hystersisters for 9 months but in that time I haven't read about anyone waking up during surgery either. I agree that if it worries you , you should discuss it with your dr and anesthesiologist. Mine took time to answer all my questions and I'm sure yours will too. I had 3 surgeries last year and didn't wake up during any of them.
Please be assured that your medical team will be there taking their best care of you.
S

Hi everyone,

I remember the thing that I was most concerned with was the anesthesia. My dr. comforted me by explaining how far they've come with anesthesia, the problem you mentioned must be extremely rare. As the other ladies said, I've never heard of this happening to any member of this site in the time I've been here. The thing that helped me the most was talking directly to the Anesthesiologist. If you tell them your fears, believe me, they will comfort you. And, it turns out that the anesthesia part of the surgery, was, for me, the easiest and most comforting part of the surgery. It really was a piece of cake. When you think of the thousands and thousands of successful surgeries done every day, you realize that the problems you mentioned are very few (not even 1 per cent, I would venture to say). I know it's hard to not worry right now, (I was the same way), but I just was knocked out again () recently for a colonoscopy, and I actually looked forward to it (am I nuts?). I've gotten rid of my fear of anesthesia, I think it's the best thing ever invented. As I said, speak directly to the anesthesiologist, and you will feel better. Take care s

Marta

I wanted to respond to this as going into my surgery, no matter how many times I've had surgery before, I was terrified of the anesthesia. I've had both general and spinal, the only time I've ever had any kind of problems was when I had a laparoscopy and I had a heck of a time coming fully awake, which now I hear is normal. So anyways, my uncle is an A man back east. I called him and asked him about this episode. He told me that he's NEVER seen it happen, or even heard of it happening. And that Anesthesia is suh a precise techonology that they do use differant things to keep track of your brain waves, your blood pressure and your heart rythmn, if any of these change drastically, then they know something is going on. I did great on my A this time. No nasuea at all, cuz I told my A man I was afraid of that. And I don't think I'd of been so durned groggy all night long if it weren't for the morphine pump. I think the A scares us all as it is fear of the unknown and being put under. And as with anything there can be complications. Just remember we have such modern and sophisticated technology nowadays that they keep track of everything that goes on inside of that OR with us. And it is down to a fine tuned science. There are always the what if's and we need to not think of them or we can drive ourselves nutty. And programs like that one on DC maybe are something that we should not watch before our surgeries. WE have enough on our minds and don't need to add more to it.