hysterectomy: anesthesia question

One month to hysterectomy. A suggested question for the doctor was "what type of anesthesia will I have?" I don't know anything about anesthesia. Any advice?

One month to Dvh total hysterectomy. I don't know anything about anesthesia. Any advice?

The anesthesiologists meet with you before surgery & usually answer all your questions. Before that, your doctor will answer your questions as well. Mine answered all my questions. I had no recollection of the anesthesia itself. I worried about it before surgery but I shouldn't have because I went to sleep, woke up & surgery was done. I had no memory of the anesthesia.Don't worry about it. Wishing you the best.

Since your having a vaginal hysterectomy you will have general anesthesia. So general means you will be asleep the whole time. There are risks involved with general anesthesia, so you need to ask your doctor what they are and what you can do to prevent risks. One of them will be to tell the doc and anesthesiologist ALL drugs you are taking. Talk about all the drugs you will need to stop before surgery. Things like tylenol, Advil, most OTC pain pills, fish oils, and blood pressure meds must be stopped a few weeks before surgery. Ask doc about list. You can also ask about local anesthesia, see what your options are. That's were your not knocked out and are awake, but numb through surgery. I know they can use local but its rare, I doubt you would even want this.

Hope this helps http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_anaesthesia

Thank you, this was very helpful. I assumed I couldn't take anything within 24 hours, but I didn't know it was actually weeks without. I'll be calling my doc tomorrow. Good luck with your surgery. I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

best thing is to discuss all your options with your doctor and see which one feels comfortable to you. I personally try to avoid general anesthesia, unless I have no choice. I had epidural and it was the best choice for me...Don't worry, im sure once you talk to your dr. and discuss options, you both will choose the best one for you! God bless.

Generally the anesthesia is either going to be general (administered via IV), epidural or spinal block. If you have epidural or spinal, you'll probably be given something additional via IV to knock you out during surgery. You can ask your doctor, but in my case the decision was made by the anesthesiologist at the last minute. (The OR nurses were quite annoyed with him for this.) I had an epidural and it worked out very well for me.

As PrettySharp says, it's very important to tell your doc *everything* you take, including prescription meds, OTC meds, vitamins, supplements, herbs, etc. In my case, I was told no glucosamine two weeks before surgery, no ibuprofen (an NSAID) one week before surgery. Acetaminophen (paracetamol, Tylenol) was okay because it's not an NSAID and doesn't have blood-thinning properties.

Tell your anesthesiologist *personally* about anything you've taken that has a sedative effect. In my case, my anesthesiologist needed to know that I'd taken a Gravol (Dramamine, dimenhydrinate) for the bus ride to the hospital.

One note. Do not stop taking high blood pressure without your doctors permission. I've taken it the morning of surgery with a sip of water.

Like Suzy said do NOT stop taking your BP meds,unless your Dr. tells you to.

Chris

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzy in Texas One note. Do not stop taking high blood pressure without your doctors permission. I've taken it the morning of surgery with a sip of water.

I don't know about all BP meds - but I take a beta blocker (not for BP but for a heart issue) and was told to continue taking it and that it actually helps during surgery. Just hoping my BP doesn't drop way low like it did during childbirth! But yes, do not ever stop taking meds like this unless specifically told to do so!!

As far as anesthesia - I will be reading all responses because I am unsure myself. Either way I go I am going to be petrified LOL.