LAVH: Surgery in the morning (4/3/09)

I am going in the am 4/3/09 for LAVH in preop mode now and cant figure how to post questions about the laxatives. I have taken half what they said and within couple hours I was well ytou know. On laptop in bathroom area .I came accross this post and I am drug sensative panic disorder agoraphobia so this is a nightmare for me. I don't usually leave house and I am scared to death of Morphine and pain meds mostly cause they stimulate me and trigger panic. Anyone help me her or tell me where to go to chat about whats going on now and ahead please.
I am so afraid to leave house afraid meds as I am so drug sensative but pain after what am I going to do?

the dr's and nurses will know how to help you with your panic disorder...i wish you the best of luck with your surgery and recovery. wish i could offer more help but i'm not familiar with your condition

Thnak you Im just so scared..... But so glad I founbd this sight as browsing I have learned alot.

I'm sure you will do fine - the nurses are amazing. You will be safe and in a perfect place should you have a panic attack. This site is amazing and it's helped me considerably - be sure to come back and post when you are home and let us know how you are.

:cybhug:

JWD- I am glad to see you figured out where to make a new post. I just wrote to you on another thread hoping you would find it and figure it out! I am very sorry for you! I have problems of my own, different from yours so i can not help you with your anxity issue much! I would say the same thing, TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR! He/she has better experince in dealing with that! I said i suffer with my own mental issues, i see a good physiologist that helps me with my struggles!! I was very scared the few days before my surgery also!! In fact i just lost my mind those last few days! But that morning of i was calm and ready to get on the road to healed! You are going to do just find! We are stronger a lot of times than we give ourselves for. Have faith in yourself girl! And have faith in your doctor! They can help you help yourself through this! I am 2 weeks post-op now and i feel better than i have felt in years! I am really glad i had this surgery!! Best of luck, all my love and prayers!! You are going to be fine sweetie!!

Hi JWD

Do you have someone who will be going to the hospital with you? In addition to telling your nurses about your anxiety, it might be nice if there's someone else with you who will be your advocate. Although I didn't face the same issues as you, my husband was really great about checking on my comfort levels and getting the nurses for me when I needed them.

My nurses in the hospital were wonderful. I had a reaction to the morphine, and they tried several different things until I was comfortable as I could possibly be. You will not be the first patient who faces these challenges, and the nurses should be able to help you through everything.

I wish you great peace and calmness as you head into the next day. In just a couple days, I hope to see you on the post-op board here telling us how wonderfully everything went for you.

Thank you all for talking to me, I have been losing my mind. And Im starving and have asthma so thats another fear. I have great drS. BUT i GUESS i JUST HAVE TO MAKE IT THRU NIGHT.
Sry caps laptop.

You will be fine ... The nurses are really great and help .I have asthma too and they made me take a puff of my inhaler right before I went into surgery even though I was not having an asthma attack ..Only you can calm yourself down..Try to really think about anything other than surgery it will go by so fast and before you know it you will be waking up from it ....This surgery is the best thing I did I feel the best I have in 2 or more years . I wish you the best of luck ...

JWD...you are not alone...I'm going through the same thing. My hyst is sheduled for April 9th. I'm very sensitive to drugs and the fear of surgery is consuming me.

JWD, you are not alone. I'd like to share my experience with you. I suffer from PTSD and Anxiety/Panic Disorder too, caused by having had an anaphylactic reaction several years ago. Both medications and foods can trigger an attack.

Like you, I'm scared to death of being medicated. I'm also scared about having to eat hospital food without me or DH being able to talk to the cook and/or read the ingredient list on the packaging.

When I have a reaction to something itching is the fist symptom and it goes from itch to anaphalyxis VERY FAST. If I start to itch, no matter what causes it, it sets of a panic attack and some of them are pretty bad. For instance, one time a mosquitoe bit me but I didn't see the bug or feel the bite. Because I didn't feel the bite I didn't know it was a mosquitoe so when the bite started itching it set off a massive panic attack that lasted over two hours. Even figuring out it was a mosquitoe (it came back for seconds) didn't stop it.

When I went to my preop today I talked with my doctor about my fears. He told me that I can be given Benadryl to help prevent itching and to talk with the anasthesia nurse when I went to get my lab work done, so I did. I asked her if they could please make sure that I be given Benadryl right away, BEFORE I start to itch cuz if I itch that's it for me. She told me they could do that and to make sure to remind the surgeon and anasthesist the morning of my surgery so they'll write it into my post-op orders.

I know you've already had your post op stuff done, but maybe you could talk to your surgeon and anasthesist tomorrow morning and ask that they do the same for you. You could also ask them to give you something that will help keep you from having attacks.

Good luck tomorrow. I'll be praying for you.