Surgery in 3 days - so scared!
Posted , 8 users are following.
Hi all, I've posted here before but it's finally time, my surgery is on Tuesday and I am freaking out! After over a year of chronic nausea and stomach, chest, and back pain I had a HIDA scan of 0% and was scheduled for surgery. I am worried about several things, but the biggest concern is side effects from the anesthesia as I am emetophobic (fear of vomiting). I am also afraid that the surgery won't work or that I'll be worse after, like many people who post here.
I am so frightened about the surgery I am having trouble sleeping and having regular panic attacks! Please help! From anyone who has gone through this, what was it like? Did you have nausea or vomiting? Do you feel better now? Thank you!
1 like, 25 replies
heather071106 sadtum
Posted
Hi Sadtum!
Thank goodness your surgery is so close. I had mine 6 years ago now and outside of occasionally having to run to the bathroom (or a short bout of about 2 months where I couldn't really tolerate fats a few months ago) I've been SO much better. It's amazing and if I had to choose again right now whether or not to do it again I'd do it in a hearbeat.
Let me also say I have been emitophobic my entire life and also have an INTENSE fear of doctors/hospitals. I was an absolute wreck when I went in for my surgery. I was convinced I was either going to die during the surgery or when I woke up I would be so nauseated I would throw up. Well, neither happened. I told the anesthesiologist that I have severe anxiety about not only the surgery but about throwing up and asked him to give me every anti-nausea medication he safely could. He was so kind and understanding. Not only did he make sure I woke up comfortable but he gave me anti-anxiety medication when they were wheeling me back for surgery (it didn't really help because I have such strong panic that it tends to break through anti-anxiety medications). When I got back in the room I thought I'd run screaming but I didn't, I just let them put the mask on for a sec and I think I got to 99 and then I was waking up. When I woke up I didn't feel nauseated at all. There were only two things I felt: Sore abs and a sore throat.
My biggest advice to you is two things: Tell anyone who will listen to you that you don't want to wake up sick. Tell them you'd like a prescription for anti-nausea meds for when you go home (just in case you take pain pills and they make you sick - I'm afraid of medications so I never took any pain medication after my surgery). The second thing is to have cough drops on hand for the sore throat. I had to send out my husband for some and it sucked having to wait for him to get home because my throat really hurt.
You will do fine and you'll feel better for it, too. I felt back to myself within a day of having the surgery.
Good luck!
sadtum heather071106
Posted
Wow thanks so much for this great information - I'm so glad everything went well for you and you feel better! That is the thing that keeps me going, the thought that I will finally be rid of this constant nausea. I have made some notes in preparation to have a good talk with the anesthesiologist and I will pick up some cough drops!
crystal405 sadtum
Posted
sadtum crystal405
Posted
That is so good to hear, I'm so glad that it worked for you and you are feeling better!
lynda20916 sadtum
Posted
Please try to calm your fears. There are drugs to prevent or lessen nausea. I'm sure that the hospital staff will do everything they can to make you comfortable and safe. You will be better off without a diseased organ in your body--so yes, things will be better for you. If there are difficulties afterwards, they won't be insurmountable. You'll have a chance to get healthier!
Best of luck, and let me know how you get on!
sadtum lynda20916
Posted
Thanks so much! I will definitely talk to the nurses and anesthesiologist about this issue. I'll post back after Tuesday and let you know how it went!
lynda20916 sadtum
Posted
Good luck for the surgery, and please let me know how you're doing and how everything went! xx
sally70945 sadtum
Posted
Hi sadtum you've had amazing advice from this lovely group of people, I had mine out last Friday 18/11/16 & hopefully going back to work tomorrow. I was sooooo nervous going in last Friday 7.30 am I haven't even meet my surgeon/consultant until that morning, lucky I got to see him & ask all the questions I needed to no & the anesthetiser these are the most important men in your life that day.(my biggest worry was I have sleep apnea & heart condition) In recovery the best advice the nurse gave me was to move about as soon as I feel able to & this will disburse any gasses trapped that give a lot of pain in shoulders , ribs, back. Good luck for Tuesday! X
sadtum sally70945
Posted
Thanks for the kind wishes! I'm glad you're doing well after your surgery and hopefully you will continue to feel better!
deborah11738 sadtum
Posted
Sadtum
? Just wanted to say best of luck to you for tomorrow. :Please rest assured all will be justt fine I was like you just had the surgery August 2.Ffirst surgery ever and I was soooo scared. Reading post and people problems after surgery and just remember go in with a postive attitude and all will be fine.
?Just get you some popsicles thorat may be a little soar I could not sleep but if I would had some one send me this note I may have rested a little easier.
?Best of health,'
Deb
sadtum deborah11738
Posted
Thanks so much Deborah, it is so reassuring to hear your surgery went well. Thanks for the advice on the sore throat as well, I got some cough drops for tomorrow. I'm just reminding myself that by this time tomorrow it will all be over and I will be on the road to recovery!
deborah11738 sadtum
Posted
Sadtum
​ Just wanted to say best of luck to you for tomorrow. Please rest assured all will be just fine I was like you just had the surgery August 2.First surgery ever and I was soooo scared. Reading post and people problems after surgery and just remember go in with a postive attitude and all will be fine.
​Just get you some popsicles thorat may be a little soar I could not sleep but if I would had some one send me this note I may have rested a little easier.
​Best of health,'
Deb
sadtum
Posted
Hi everyone, I got back from the hospital an hour ago and it went great! The nurses and doctors were so nice, the surgeon even held my hand in the OR when I was getting anxious. I was in pre-op for about an hour, meeting with nurses and the anesthesiologist and answering lots of questions. The anesthesiologist was great and gave me a new anti-emetic called Emend that is apparenty the best! He also gave me an acid reducer and then more anti-emetics while I was under. Guess what? I had no nausea at all! I actually woke up hungery, and am now trying not to eat too much to make sure I don't regret it later! This is the first time I haven't had nausea in 1.5 years! Felt dizzy coming off the anesthesia and very tired but not even that sore - and they only gave me ibuprofen. So far have eaten some crackers and some oatmeal and half a banana and am walking short distances around the house kind of hunched over. The hardest part is that I want to eat everything I haven't been able to for so many months!
Thank you SO MUCH everybody for your kind wishes and amazing advice! You were all right on, and hopefully I'll continue to feel better and better!
lynda20916 sadtum
Posted
So glad to hear from you, and especially, that all went well! Do remember you've had major surgery, so take plenty of time to heal!
Please continue to let us know how you get on!
deborah11738 sadtum
Posted
jeanie33588 sadtum
Posted
Just been reading your posts re: before your op and
Your after op post, so very pleased to hear it all went well for you
and now you are recovering well.
I have my op to remove my gallbladder next Tuesday 6th Nov.
Will be glad when that is done and back home.
Wishing you good health and all the best for the future.
Jeanie X
sadtum jeanie33588
Posted
Thank you for your kind wishes and best of luck with your surgery next week. While it is certainly different for everyone, you can see from the posts here including mine that it CAN go very well without any immediate complications. I wish you the best!
samanthagray16 sadtum
Posted
Hi sadtum. Hope you're recovering well??
Can I ask how the nausea is now?
I'm on the waiting list for surgery now. Just scared about a misdiagnosis as one of my main symptoms is chronic nausea and that's without pain or a trigger.
Scared in case it isn't my glabladder causing that and also scared of the actual surgery.
sadtum samanthagray16
Posted
Hi Samantha,
I had the same as you - chronic nausea without a lot of pain (I did have a stomach and back ache a lot) and seemingly unrelated to what I ate. As for the surgery, I was SO SCARED but it was fine. It is certainly a big deal and you will need time to recover, but the surgery itself for me was not bad at all. I'm on my 4th day and have been going for short walks, going to the grocery store, and even going out for light meals (though so far I'm only eating light soups, toast, and bagels). I work from home but if I worked in an office I could forsee going back to work next week.
But I have to be honest: at this point I am not sure if the surgery cured me or not. I have not had severe attacks nausea since the surgery, which I used to get most days, but I have had a mild upset stomach and stomach fullness/pressure on and off. I can't tell if it's because I am recovering from the surgery or if my problem hasn't gone away.
If you are worried I would recommend asking your doctor if there are any other things they can test for. I had every test under the sun done before the surgery so I felt confident that it was the only thing left to try. So even if it doesn't totally fix me, I feel like it was my best option.
Have you had a HIDA scan? That was the test they used to diagnose me. Before that I tried half a dozen acid reducers/proton pump inhibitors, a round of antibiotics, had bloodwork done twice, 2 ultrasounds, and a barium swallow test.
Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do! Also please feel free to ask anything else if you have more questions!
sadtum samanthagray16
Posted
Hi Samantha,
I had the same as you - chronic nausea without a lot of pain (I did have a stomach and back ache a lot) and seemingly unrelated to what I ate. As for the surgery, I was SO SCARED but it was fine. It is certainly a big deal and you will need time to recover, but the surgery itself for me was not bad at all. I'm on my 4th day and have been going for short walks, going to the grocery store, and even going out for light meals (though so far I'm only eating light soups, toast, and bagels). I work from home but if I worked in an office I could forsee going back to work next week.
But I have to be honest: at this point I am not sure if the surgery cured me or not. I have not had severe attacks nausea since the surgery, which I used to get most days, but I have had a mild upset stomach and stomach fullness/pressure on and off. I can't tell if it's because I am recovering from the surgery or if my problem hasn't gone away.
If you are worried I would recommend asking your doctor if there are any other things they can test for. I had every test under the sun done before the surgery so I felt confident that it was the only thing left to try. So even if it doesn't totally fix me, I feel like it was my best option.
Have you had a HIDA scan? That was the test they used to diagnose me. Before that I tried half a dozen acid reducers/proton pump inhibitors, a round of antibiotics, had bloodwork done twice, 2 ultrasounds, and a barium swallow test.
Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do! Also please feel free to ask anything else if you have more questions!
samanthagray16 sadtum
Posted
Thanks for the reply.
I'm glad you haven't had the daily nausea. I'm suffering with it so badly every day it's so dibilitating.
I'm having a camera down my throats and a colonoscopy next week because of other symptoms, looser stools, some acid from time to time.
Countless bloods tests, all mostly normal other than having more white blood cells than I should and except for when I had chest pain it showed elevated liver enzymes.
But I had a few episodes of very severe pain a few weeks ago where they did an ultrasound and said I had cholecystitis, slightly inflamed gallbladder, small stones. I've been treated with a course of antibiotics, no pain since but constant nausea and lack of appetite persists.
No hida scan.
Also odd as this is when my nausea is particularly bad. I often wake with aching throbbing legs and can't understand how that's connected.
Just really scared as I can't cope with this daily feeling sick much more and really hoping it truly is my gallbladder causing all of this.