To ask you what general anaesthetic is actually like?

A gas induction is not always a safe option and is not likely to be sensible for someone on mounjaro.

Please don’t starve for longer than necessary. It won’t do any good and you’ll just end up hungrier and thirstier. midnight is absolutely fine.
But also tell the anaesthetist you’re on mounjaro. It has some implications for they type of airway (breathing tube) they use and the drugs they use to make you go off to sleep.

No, nothing for nerves. As a child I remember being given a sedative prior to going down for surgery and it had the opposite effect, they didn’t know what to do with me!

you can share your nerves and any mental health difficulties and they may make reasonable adjustments. Lists are based on medical need, things like diabetics, people with medication needs and other clinical reasons will mean they go first. They then might have more flexibility.

May depend on the hospital. She might be allowed to sit in the Day Surgery reception area with you but once you are taken to be booked in then she'll probably have to leave. I had an op under local anaesthetic recently and there was a few hours, sitting in a cubicle in a hospital gown. Everyone for surgery that afternoon had to arrive at 12.00 to be 'processed', although obviously operations happened in turn. Afterwards, you will wake up in a recovery area and, again, I think you wouldn't have a visitor with you. They will want to get you out asap though.

It's great!

I was worried about losing control and it being a sudden 'switch off', but it was more like just drifting off (albeit quite quickly).

Best thing is to just tell them that you are nervous. I did that, as I felt just like you do, and felt very well looked after.

Good luck!

If you are booked in as a day case surgery, your phone, glasses, clothing, shoes and any other personal items you have will likely be sealed in a polybag and locked in a locker until you are out of the recovery area and back on the ward, when they will be returned to you.

I'd take a book with me rather than an iPad. The hospital will likely have free wi-fi and you can use your phone while you are waiting to be discharged.

I would think you'll be given a gown to wear for the operation plus non-slip socks. If you ask, they will give you some modesty knickers that are a sort of stretchy material.

Anaesthetists are great for putting patients at ease. When you come round, your vision might be a little squiffy for a minute of two. You'll be offered a drink with a straw. You may be given ibuprofen melts and as one poster has said you may have an oxygen clip under your nose for a few minutes. With a short procedure, you will probably recover very quickly but have someone collect you to take you home.

I've had a uterine polyp removed under GA and would have been out for around as long as you are expected to be out and once I was back on the ward, I felt well enough to go to the loo on my own and was ready to be discharged an hour or two later.

I'd wear a soft sports type bra as it may be more comfortable in bed.

I’ve had it four times and it’s always felt the same. You are layed down on your back so you don’t see the needle go in, they count down from 10 and you’ll be under before they get to 1. You normally come round with a nurse next to you, who will make sure you feel okay and to give you the magical hospital jam on toast and tea. It feels like you’ve had the best sleep of your entire life.

Ask for anaesthetic gas.
All operations I’ve had I’ve been put out with gas. I’ve had quite a few over the years.
I hate needles and one anaesthesiologist said I would be fine with a needle, as soon as he tried my blood pressure went through the roof so he had to stop and gas me.
When I come round there’s always a cannula in my hand so they put other drugs in that once I’m out with the gas.

I was violently sick after the first operation so for the others I got a couple of anti- sickness drugs before I was brought round.

You won't need anything for your nerves because a GA works very quickly, and then you feel nothing at all. It's just a very quick closing of consciousness and then you are immediately waking up again, because there's no sense of time in between, no dreams etc.

I've had GA for my gallbladder surgery and for my wisdom tooth surgery. Both times I was in one room and then woke up in another.

For my wisdom tooth surgery I was on a cot in a little recovery room at the back of the endodontist office with a nurse sitting there with me when I woke up. When I asked her how I got in that room she told me I walked! I could not believe it.

I've had two - one at18 to have my tonsils removed and one in my 30s to have my sinuses cauterised. Both times were fine - on the second occasion, I woke up starving!

I had a general anaesthetic five times within a ten year period.
The first time I was anxious because I remembered having an anaesthetic to have my tonsils out when I was six which had been an unpleasant experience.
Things have improved a lot. On every occasion I was asked to count and didn't get very far before going straight to sleep with no wooziness. I woke up with a sense of having had the best sleep ever and feeling happy-I might have been given some medication but I felt great.

I had my gallbladder out last year and was on the trolley just outside the operating theatre, while the needle was being inserted. There were three young medical students there to observe and I started to chat to them, then next thing I was aware of was that I was back on the ward.

I've had probably 10 GA's and I think they're really nice actually.

Every time, all the staff have been lovely. They chat along, make you laugh, then before you know it you're getting this lovely heavy, warm feeling up your legs and then...... I've always found it really pleasant.

I do however always wake up crying and a bit cold, which I'm told is normal. You get well looked after so the confusion doesn't last long when you come around.

Yeah in my experience you don't have someone to accompany you on the day surgery unit.

I've never been given anything for my nerves, even before major surgery!

DP had one last week. He was told I couldn’t go in with him, even for the waiting around before prep, but other patients had people with them, so might be worth double checking what you’ve been told. He also travelled very light, just phone, dressing gown and slippers. There should be somewhere to leave valuables, but it might be quite compact.

He bounced back from the GA surprisingly quickly, o but got a little emotional a couple of times; he was warned that apparently this is very common. What he wasn’t told, which might have been useful, is that constipation is also quite common, because the GA slows everything down, including your digestive transit. When that happened and we looked for advice, Dulcoease was recommended; you don’t want anything too powerful, and apparently that’s relatively gentle.

If they give you compression stockings, keep them on until you’ve been told how long you need to wear them for. In DP’s case, it’s 14 days, but he wasn’t told that until a nurse saw he’d taken them off.

Hope all goes well for you.

I am having one very soon and I am not nervous , I have had so many in my lifetime.
It's a lovely feeling because you wake up and you think nothing has been done but actually it's all over and you can just have a rest , brilliant feeling and lovely staff

Yeah, mine weren’t allowed into the day surgery unit until the evening of the surgery when I had an unexpected stay over. They then collected me from the door when I left. I was in my own sat in a room with four other women waiting for my surgery and that was boring. But no, no one allowed in with anyone. There just isn’t the space of facilities.

I‘ve had it twice, once following miscarriage and once for knee surgery.

There’s nothing to it, you just fall asleep really quickly. I didn’t have a mask, it was through a cannula I believe. My main worry was whether they would take into account the MC1R “ginger” gene which research suggests makes us more susceptible to pain. The anaesthetist was aware and very reassuring.

I was copiously sick afterwards both times so watch out for that.

Anaesthetists are the kindest doctors, with the best bedside manner. I had my first GA when I was 8 and misunderstood the premed so worried that I wasn't falling asleep and didn't know whether to say anything or pretend! Luckily, that was only for a few seconds.

Had a couple of GAs as an adult. Beforehand you're naturally a bit nervous and I'm always disorientated afterwards - feel I wake up crying but not sure if that's true. The staff with you have been through this lots of times so just ask them any questions.

I've had a GA about 6 times for various things and the PPS that have said it's like a switch and you're switched off is my experience too, there was no drifting or wooziness, just the feeling of the meds going in and feeling a bit weird but before you can really form that into a proper thought or try and express it you're waking up in recovery and confused as to why they've not done the operation!
I had my tonsils removed as a adult and by far the best thing about that was they gave me some morphine before I went under because it's such a short operation they give you some just before so it's taking full effect by the time you wake up.

Now that was a pretty sensational feeling, I've had it when I've been in pain before (and really appreciated it after I woke up) but the few moments of high were great!

Recovery has been different for me each time, the longer ones I've been groggy and emotional, though I have no idea why I'm crying and the shorter ones I've been a bit rude I think, trying to get up and shouting at people 😳 but both are perfectly normal reactions to the anaesthetic and wear off fairly quickly, and the team will be experienced with all aspects of recovery, and know what to do.

I'm usually fine once I've come around completely, my body feels sluggish for a day or so but I feel alert and mentally normal.

I think it's normal to be a bit nervous about something you've never experienced before like this but anaesthesia and surgery are very safe and the people doing it highly trained.