Afraid!!

[ChatNoir 0]

Hello everyone! I am in the process of getting all necessary information paperwork faxed over. Things are slowly coming together and soon will have my surgery date. I am so scared. Not of the pain or the actual surgery itself. I'm afraid of going under and not waking back up. I'm so scared of death, I don't want to be without my family. I don't want to lose them. Has anyone else had this debilitating fear?

[Letsgetgoing2018 448]

I can totally relate. I was sleeved on July 10th and the fear of dying during surgery almost made me cancel. Use these boards for support. You will be in good hands with your medical team and by being overweight you are shortening your life. Try to relax. All will be okay. Best of luck to you.

[Bryn910 519]

The fear is normal. But I always asked myself, “would you rather die because of your obesity or do you want to die on the table trying to save your life?”

yes that may see morbid or weird, but that’s what I asked myself. I took my chances twice and came out on the better side.

You too will come out of this on the right side. Good luck

[Strivingforbetter 246]

I had this same fear and voiced it to a friend of mine. She gave me great comfort that a higher being was well aware of my fears and that the surgeon's hands would be guided. I don't know of you're a religious person, but this helped me. I also gave myself the same self talk as Bryn910. I wanted to save my life and was brave enough to step forward and do it. I have no regrets. I have a new life.

[nibble 201]

I asked my surgeon how many patients don't make it out of surgery. He said EVERYONE makes it out of surgery! They are not going to operate on someone who is too much of a risk or medically compromised. And I have the greatest respect for the anesthesiologists who keep us appropriately sedated during the procedure. Share your fears and concerns with everyone connected with your process. They will ally your fears. They understand. I also realized that all the hoops you must jump through are building confidence for both you and your surgeon that there will be a good outcome - they want success as much as you do. Every clearance you get just boosts the confidence level. Perhaps you can talk to a therapist about it, or perhaps they would prescribe something to help you relax if it is truly debilitating. You don't want to get in the way of your own journey.