Crazy Pre-Op Anxiety

[KaiserKid 81]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the pre-op stages of VSG right now. I have a tentative surgery date of 11/11/2016, and let me tell you, it can't come fast enough!

I have a ton of appointments scheduled from now until that date, and I am an anxious mess over it. I'm not usually an anxious person, but because this is something that is so detrimental to the rest of my life, combined with the fact that I want it so badly, I'm terrified the rug will be pulled from under me. Between the fear of denial from my insurance (I've previously posted about it), to the potential of them "finding" something in the pre-op tests that would prevent me from having surgery (ex: hiatal hernia, for which I'm going for a barium swallow test), to something totally dumb like what if my car breaks down and I can't make it to one of my appointments.

The people at my WLC are very nice, and when I voice my concerns, they don't seem very worried. I can tell they are well-versed in what they do, so maybe my fears are unfounded. I feel like this would be too-short a time to see a therapist separate from the WLC psychologist, as I'm less than 2 months away from my surgery (if all goes well).

Was anyone else as anxious as I am? Whenever I go into the WLC, I feel so assured and positive, but once I go home I start to have these negative thoughts that some act of God will prevent me from doing this.

[Pescador 1,374]

If you read daily posts here, you will see you are one of thousands, with pre-op anxiety. Read the posts and responses, and you will learn so much as you study the responses. We all had pre-op anxiety I am sure. Just take one step at a time and relax. The success stories here, in the thousands too, will smooth your anxiety!

[heidikat72 935]

Yep - I had anxiety over all the same things! If they do find something during a test - be glad they find it and can figure out how to deal with it prior to surgery. For most of my clearances I was actually told after the test that it would have had to be something very severe to prevent me from having surgery. Most of the time it was just so the surgeon would know what he was working with or there might be a case where you might need some treatment prior to surgery. But yeah, I was an anxious mess until I had insurance approval - I think I called my surgeon's coordinator every other day from the time she submitted until she had approval! I know she must have hated me. And then I had a slight panicky moment when she did tell me I was approved because it suddenly became real! haha. but 3 months later and every thing is fine.

Try to relax some about the testing - keep in mind it is all for your safety, you don't want the surgeon or anethesiologist encountering any "surprises" during surgery that could have been avoided.

[Djmohr 6,965]

@@KaiserKid

This pre op anxiety is 100% completely normal and it comes with some strange emotional fun too.

I like you was past ready and terrified not of the surgery but of something coming up that did not allow me to have it.

I had stupid stuff happen like the doctors administrator going on vacation and not filing the paperwork with insurance. It caused a 3 week delay for me and I spent the day crying. I am NOT a cryer but I was beyond ready.

Then 3 weeks before my surgery date, I went to pull up my pants and threw my back on so badly that I was hospitalized for 4 days to deal with the pain.

That caused me to literally freak out, I thought they would cancel my surgery for sure given the fact that I literally could not walk. I was crawling to my bathroom on the floor, could not stand up......well, we finally got that under control and everything moved forward as planned.

I started my pre op diet and the rest was smooth sailing.

It is normal.....I assure you. You will read probably thousands of posts about it.

I found myself much more emotional before surgery than after. After I was too darned excited to be emotional. And as my weight started coming off and I was able to get my Protein and Water in, I felt great.

[KristenLe 5,979]

@@KaiserKid My anxiety is mostly about something happening to prevent me from getting surgery. I am still not scheduled but so far so good.

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

like what if my car breaks down and I can't make it to one of my appointments.

You'll have extra cash in your pocket before you leave the house. If your car breaks down, you will call a taxi. Some of our mothers and most of our grandmas and great-grandmas called it "mad money" in case a date went sour. Next!

You probably have a long history of anxiety, yes? No? Maybe? Why put off getting some help with it, either talk therapy or anti-anxiety meds or both? You'll be better off getting a handle on it as early as possible so that you don't put yourself through the wringer over every detail, bite and sip post-surgery. You want to enjoy the ride, not have your gut in a tangle.

[OKCPirate 5,323]

If you ain't nervous, you either were not paying attention, or you are nuts...moral, only nervous people should be allowed into the ER for elective work,

[Thea1965 25]

I'm not overly anxious about the actual surgery. I'm very anxious that after I go through everything that it won't work for me. I have diabetes and I so want this to help with it. Good luck.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G750A using the BariatricPal App

[#BirdDog 604]

I'm not overly anxious about the actual surgery. I'm very anxious that after I go through everything that it won't work for me. I have diabetes and I so want this to help with it. Good luck.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G750A using the BariatricPal App

I am diabetic as well, I stopped taking my Metformin on my first day of the liquid pre-op diet and haven't taken it since. I am now two weeks post op and checking my blood sugar often. I'm in the high 80s most of the day now. I was told to stop my blood pressure medicine and given instructions on checking it a couple times a day. Haven't taken blood pressure medicine since the day before surgery. It was like a light switch.

I know everyone is unique, but this has been my experience and I'm willing to bet that surgery helps your diabetes as well.