spinal vs. general anesthesia

Does anyone have any experience with a spinal during their TVH instead of general anesthesia. My dr. wants me awake during the bladder repair so I can cough for her. Kind of scares me, but I will be given something in my I.V. to make me groggy. She also warns me that if I can not pee when the cathater comes out, that they might have to teach me self catherization to do at home for awhile. That one really got my blood pressure going. I know she is just giving me worst case, but I wonder if anybody can shed some light on this for me. Thanks, dabadoo

HI Dabadoo

I can't help with the anesthesia issue. I had a general.

What type of bladder repair are you having? I had a Burch repair. I had surgery on Monday, and they took my cath out on Thursday morning before I was discharged. I was up and going on my own within a half an hour. Had no problems. My Dr. had warned me that I might have to bring the cath home for a couple days, but I had no problem

I drank alot of water in the castle. In fact, the nurses commented about how many times a day my cath bag had to be emptied. Maybe the water helped, I'm not sure.

Good luck to you !

I just posted my TVH while awake story here on pre-op. I was awake and felt NO pain. I did feel them moving me a bit on the table but it was all in all a very good experience.