Hand hold? Going in for surgery soon and I'm terrified

[chattingtoaspanishgirl]

I haven't been under for a few years , and last time I was very relaxed until they put whatever it is in my veins to make me go to sleep. It hurt like hell and I felt conscious, like I was slowly slipping away, throughout the whole thing until I was asleep. It was horrible.

I don't have my mum here today either to hold my hand. DH is at home with DS.

I feel so sad and alone. Obviously I'm wallowing in self pity but I truly feel like it's not a big deal, yet for me it is.

I have never been afraid of being put to sleep, and like I say, last time I was happy to go under But the actual experience wasn't nice and it frightened me.

Has anyone got a positive experience? Thank you

I was terrified. Ask for a pre med, they gave me midazolam in my arm and that knocked me out so much I didn't feel the anaesthetic
And I've had that twice now, no pain. Talk to them! Explain what happened and how scared you are
I cried all over the anaesthetist

Oliver Omg, I've just read it creates a loss of ability to create new memories

Hand hold. I've had positive experiences of general anaesthetic. I know what you mean about the meds going in but for me it felt like cold water going in. Can you have a chat with your anaesthetist and see if you can have a pre med or discuss your worries? That might help, especially if they talk you through the process (my gas doc was brilliant).

I always giggle like a loon when I come round.

Hopefully all will be better this time and you have a good experience. Lots of luck.

The midazolam basically made me feel incredibly happy drunk, but no dizziness or sickness. I laughed a lot and then woke up and that was a 5hr op

Did you talk to the anaesthetist about your concerns?

I still have vivid recollections of surgery as a child, but having had fairly major surgery a couple of years ago, it was brilliant, although I did ask for a sedative. Quite prepared to be a wimp in these circumstances!

Hope the surgery goes well.

Handhold

ikleboo Thank you Not sure if it will impact by breastmilk (sedatives) so I will ask.

Oliva Oh, like me with gas and air My words were after two puffs "This stuff is fucking brilliant, I feel like Pat Tate. I could rob a fucking bank mate" - I have a middle class accent but spoke like a strong cockney I couldn't stop laughing to myself.

aj I haven't seen them yet. Just waiting. Thank you

Definitely have a chat with them then. They asked what I was scared of and I said the anaesthetic and being sick but I couldn't care less about needles

So they loaded me with anti sickness and pre med - I was eating a main meal and two portions of pudding about 2hrs post op and asking for more

Found this online:

Sedation:

This is when drugs are given to relax you during a procedure. It ranges from a small amount of drug given to reduce anxiety (light sedation), to being very sleepy and not remembering some of the details of the procedure (deep sedation). Sedation is often used in addition to local anaesthesia. It is safe to feed as soon as you feel awake enough to safely hold your baby.

General anaesthesia

This is when you are asleep for the entire time and do not have any awareness of the procedure. If you have a general anaesthetic, the surgeons will commonly give some local anaesthetic whilst you are asleep to reduce the amount of pain you have following the procedure. Following a general anaesthetic, it will take longer to ‘come round’ but as soon as you are awake enough to hold your baby safely, it is safe to resume breastfeeding.

Midazolam doesn't stop you creating new memories. It relaxes you and makes you forget the part about the rest of the anaesthetic. You'll then wake up in recovery. Do tell the anaesthetist you're concerns

rugby thank you for reassuring me. I came to that conclusion because of this online that I've attached

ik that's brilliant to know, no worries at all now about it impacting my milk

Well, I'm absolutely shaken up.

I spoke to the anaesthetist before going in and he said he said yes that's fine, I'll give you something to relax you and then put you to sleep.

I went in there, and after putting my cannula in after 5/6 attempts later he put the solution in straight away. One was to flush the vein out, one was the sedation

I said hold on, I thought you said I was being given a calming med before going under?!

He shrugged. I was in tears and said to the nurse with me "he said I was getting a calming medication, what's happening?! I wasn't suppose to be just sedated". She also looks confused and just shrugged sympathetically.

Next thing I know I woke up in recovery. I'm really shaken up

I’m so sorry you had that experience OP. Where are you now? Are they looking after you ok?

I am so sorry they didn't sort something out beforehand. It's over now though - hopefully all onwards and upwards!

the calming medication is sedation...perhaps it was a confusing choice of words though. Generally for short day case type procedures it's better to try to avoid drugs like midazolam because it just means it takes longer to recover after the operation and having something 20 secs before the general anaesthetic doesn't really make any difference.

The anaesthetic (propofol) sometimes stings, but sometimes doesn't - just because it's hurt once doesn't necessarily mean it will again. Sounds daft but holding your arm in the air while it's going in really can make it less painful.

Re the advice above about breastfeeding - it's important to check each time as it's not just anaesthetic agents you get during the operation - there may be a whole bunch of other things that may be needed depending on the operation/your health so it's important for the anaesthetist to know if a customer is breastfeeding.

hope you're on the mend soon.

Walking Apologies, the previous post wasn't clear because I was still quite shocked and drugged!

The anaesthetist did agree to Mizadolam exactly. He nodded and said I'm sure that's something we can give to relax you.

I'm still so shocked at what happened. I can't quite get my head around how it was allowed

Ask for a debrief of what happened and why they didn't do what you asked or thought they were going to do.

@chatting sorry - was trying to make 2 separate points but it probably didn’t come out that clearly.

Midazolam is sedation though so when he said he was giving the ‘sedation’ that was him giving the ‘calming medicine’ you’d asked for. All the Benzo’s are anxiolytic (ie reduce anxiety) and sedative. I agree it’s confusing to use two different terms for the same thing, but in terms of the drugs he was using it does sound from what you’ve written like he was doing what he’d agreed to.

Hope you’re feeling better by today.

I don't remember having it flushed but I did have midazolam through the cannula, they waited for that to work/calm me and chatted to me until it had kicked in and then gave me the anaesthetic