anxious about upcoming surgery

Hi Sisters....I am very nervous about my upcoming abdominal hysterectomy which i have scheduled for Oct 25,2005..The reason for my surgery is for very very heavy bleeding...I have been bleeding for the most part since Dec.2004 and the same thing happened 3 years ago too..this time they did my yearly blood work and now anemic..I stopped bleeding for 18 days in sept and got my iron levels almost back to normal but now am bleeding again..They have me taking 325 mg ferrous sulfate iron 3 times a day...I will be so glad when the surgery is all over and i am on the road to recovery....I have an enlarged uterus it is 11.4 cm...and have severe lower back pain which i'm sure is from all the stuff messed up down there..I am so looking forward to having the surgery out of the way and on my way to healing!.I am choosing to be sedated with a drug called versed from what i heard is very tolerable and then having an epidural to numb me for the surgery..they say with the versed I won't know whats going on..Has anyone ever went this route?.I have never been put to sleep and am scared to death to go that route...And it seems maybe this way there would be fewer complications from anestishia...My pre-op appt is Oct 19th so will ask all the questions then ,but wondering if anyone that is getting ready to have one or has recently had one can give me some calming reassurance...Thank you all so much for listening....

Hello

I am also waiting for my surgery- I can't offer any advice but wanted to send a hug your way - this site is full of good information and friendly people.
Take care of yourself

Hi, I am also in waiting....I had a D&C in august, that was the first time I ever had anything done in my life. I was put under, scared to death, but woke up feeling like a million bucks. The after affects of anestishea made me a lil groggy, but it was nothing I couldnt deal with since my insides felt so much better.

I wish you the best ,
'S
Cara

Thank you very much for your thoughts and support..I would like to send a hug and happy thoughts to you also...God Bless

Thank you very much for your thoughts and support..I would like to send a hug and happy thoughts to you also...God Bless

Hi, my surgery is also scheduled for October 25th. I've been on versed before, although not for a surgery. I was put on it when I asperated after a previous surgery and was on a ventilator for 7 days. It is true that you will not remember much on the verced. The only thing you might want to be aware of is that you might do some hallucinating when coming out of the verced. The hallucinations will be incredably reaalistic as well. Luckily I didn't have any scary ones, just hallucinated about puppies being in the hospital...sooooo weird!

Hi,
Thankyou for the advice I appreciate knowing anything...When i talked to the antistiologists he said that he does'nt like to sedate too heavily...he said i will be able to respond to him...I hope all goes well with it..I have never had surgery in my life and am pretty scared..I am trying to do the easiest way with least complications..What all are you having done and why if you don't mind me asking?And are you just having general where they put you to sleep?
What does asperate mean? And what caused that too happen?
Are you ok now?
I hope if i do hallucinate its about puppies too...lol
I send you big hugs and best wishes ...please feel free to contact me anytime I would love to keep in touch since were having surgery the same day...Share our recovery progress...Big hugs to you

There is no way I would want to be anywhere near awake during this surgery. Even with versed. I also had a bad experience with a spinal years ago so I'm scared of any kind of needle in my spine. I always choose general anesthesia. I've had 15 surgeries or so and have never had a problem with it. It's so easy, just go to sleep and seemingly a few seconds later you're awake and it's over.

I will say that versed is great stuff. You really won't care about much when they start that up. Local anesthesia just doesn't work well with me. Even my dentist has to give me 4 shots of novacaine before he'll even touch me. The whole idea of staying awake is more terrifying to me than being put to sleep which I actually think is kind of cool.

brenneybunny3,

I had the same problems you have - heavy cycles, cramps, back pain etc. I had my TAH 3 weeks ago and the pathology report showed that I had adenomyosis. So it was a the best decision to have the hysterectomy as the only way to treat adeno is by having a hysterectomy. I am telling you this because I was so very nervous before my surgery that I thought about cancelling it several times. Now I have had 2 previous C sections, a tubal ligation, and a breast reduction. I'm not new to surgical procedures. I'm just a plain old wimp when it comes to pain and I'm afraid of anesthesia. (I've had general and epidural forms of anesthesia - personally I prefer being completely out and not aware of anything). The anticipation or fear of the unknown is the worse part - I think I'm my own worst enemy - and that may be what is happening to you too.

I'd hate to see you do what I did to myself. Don't listen to anyone's "surgery war stories" like I did; believe in yourself and think positive thoughts. Everything will be fine and know that the waiting is the worst part. My surgery went well and so is the recovery (I'm 3 weeks post op).

I'll be thinking of you --- Drop me a PM if you want to talk... Good luck!