Scared to Death

Mrs Husker · March 17, 2007

I have had numerous surgeries in my life. At 19, I had my wisdom teeth pulled and I woke up during surgery. About 23 I had an exploratory lap surgery (checking for endometriosis), I didn’t wake up but had the gas pains in my shoulder and neck area, hurt like hell. At 24 I had to have my left index finger reattached, I woke up during surgery. At 28, an emergency c-section, wasn’t asleep when they started and woke up while they were stapling me up gagging on the tube, hurt like hell. I have had 3 surgeries for kidney stones and didn’t wake up for any of them. I have had 2 colonoscopies, and woke up during the last one in November, hurt like hell. I am scared to death that I am going to wake up during lap band. I am scared to death of the gas pain. I know the pain and fear of being awake while someone is in your abdominal cavity and not being able to move to let them know that you are are not out. I had nightmares for while after my c-section, they started up again Thuresday night. I know that I am going to have the surgery and that it is going to be alright. I know that I can survive the recovery, but it still doesn’t make it any easier.

I am sitting here at work (have to work all weekend) trying not to cry I am so scared. I am having surgery on March 20 at 9:30am. Only 2 days and a wake up away.

Please, please pray for me that I will not wake up during this surgery and that God will give me peace in my heart and remove my fears while waiting for Tuesday to get here.

Alexandra · March 17, 2007

Tell your doctors and especially the anaesthesiologist of your prior experiences and fear. Believe me, they don't want you to be scared and they certainly don't want anything to go awry during surgery. Be honest, and you'll get the care and support you need.

Good luck, and don't worry!! :hug:

soulful Grandma · March 17, 2007

Mrs H,

I will pray for you, absolutely . I can't reassure you too much, being pre-op and nervous myself, but I'll be with you in spirit all the way. This forum is a great place to be with all these great folks, and I just know that will help. I'm new-ish here myself, and already I'm blown away by the amount of support and information offered here.

S. G'ma

amrdmr · March 17, 2007

Hello Mrs. H.

We are having our surgeries the same day and you are in my prayers. I hope I can help calm your fears a little bit by telling you that I have had the experience of waking up during a procedure (an EGD, they put a scope down your throat to look at esophagus, stomach and small bowel). So now whenever I have surgery, I tell them (and it is the truth) about that experience and the fact that my 3 brothers have the same ability to break down the anesthesia MUCH faster than the "normal" population. At my last surgery 2 years ago, the anesthesiologist could not believe how much more medication he had to give me to knock me out.

Also, and this is important, the type of anesthesia they use for the lapband, I have been told, correct me if this is wrong, is called "conscious sedation" (fentanyl and Versed), which means that you are "out" but can still respond to commands. They give it to you in little tiny amounts at a time to keep you under, but then it is easy to wake you up when it is over. The other thing about conscious sedation is that it erases your memory of the procedure.

So, the advice above to talk to your anesthesiologist about your previous history is absolutely spot-on. S/he will make sure to keep a close eye on you and will not let you wake up during the surgery.

May we both be blessed with peace and calm.

AMRDMR

Mrs Husker · March 17, 2007

Thanks for your encourgement. I am felling better right now. Maybe it was the lack of sleep and worrying about everything that needs to get done before Tuesday (almost done with remodleing our kitche), that I let the stress get to me. Even with the possiblity of waking, I plan on doing it. I will talk to the anesthesiologist and explain my concerns.

Thanks again.

Elisabethsew · March 17, 2007

You are not alone in your past surgical experiences. Because of that, anesthesiologists now have added monitoring equipment to prevent it from happening. You're going to do great!