My surgery date is fast approaching! I am excited but I am soooo scared about the surgery. A lot of it has to do with the unknown. I've never had any surgery before, and I don't know what to expect. I am afraid of anesthesia and I worry that I'll have a serious complication or that I might die. As someone who has had panic attacks, I am sensitive to strange or unusual sensations in my body and I expect that having surgery will be associated with lots of weird feelings. I am committed to going through with the surgery because I truly do believe it is a good option for me--and that I'll be okay. I just get stuck in my head sometimes and start worrying about things that are out of my control! Obviously I'd like to reduce my level of anxiety because it makes me suffer much more than I need to!

That being said, I'd love to hear from people who have dealt with anxiety and had the surgery. How did you prepare? Any tips for how you got through would be awesome!

Don't know if this will work for you, but I thought about the health reasons for getting the surgery, which reminded me I had no option other than this. Without the surgery, I was likely to have severely reduced quality of life and early death. Compared to that, any small risk of serious problems due to the surgery was well worth it. As a result of looking at those facts, my resolve was strengthened and the panic disappeared.