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Original poster

Absolutely petrified about operation

28 replies

Morningsunriseagain · 08/06/2024 04:08

NC
never had an op before. This will be an hours op. I am beyond petrified
The feeling of doom walking to theatre.
Being put to sleep. What if I wake up in the middle of it but I'm too sedated to talk or move but can hear and feel it all happening
Having a tube instead into my throat
Being cut open, with a perm scar as a reminder of it
Waking up with a tube down my throat, some people say they have a recollection of the tube being removed as they come round

I can't do this.

OP posts:
Destiny123 · 08/06/2024 09:57

BlossomToLeaves · 08/06/2024 08:53

Good luck.
I had one recently. I was surprised at how long it all took, actually. I had to be there at 7am as is usual, and I was second on the list, so went in about 10.45 as expected. I then saw the clock in recovery and it was 3pm! I could see from my notes afterwards that I was having the anaesthetic drugs between 11 and 2.30, though I have read that the surgery itself is usually 30min-90min, so there must be a long time of getting you ready and waking you up. Or the surgery was a bit slower than expected for some reason - she had a registrar in with her so maybe there was a lot of teaching happening or something, not sure. But it felt like I'd lost a couple of hours, which I hadn't expected.

I had a nerve block as well, which carries on after you wake up, and is really really weird. They put the cannula in first, and I don't remember anything about the ecg leads, blood pressure, tube, nerve block injection or anything, so that must all have been done after I was asleep I guess.

Tell them if you feel sick or in pain as you wake up and they are really good about getting the drugs into you asap.

You might have a bit of a sore throat after.

Be prepared to sleep a lot for the next week or so - it really took it out of me and felt a little like jet lag almost, even from a short operation (obviously some of it is the healing process as well). But I'd suddenly get overwhelming sleepiness during the day.

Hope all goes well!

We don't anaesthetise without monitoring for safety sakes (unless sub 5years old and don't want to fight the child taking our cables off so in that instance its just the oxygen probe for them, till they fall asleep). You would have done, often described as "sticky dots on your shoulders" and a peg on your finger

We often give sedation for nerve blocks to make them easier to tolerate, that very often wipes memory

Anaesthetically we take up 15mins at the start to put people to sleep (40 if complex and need lines), and 10-30min to wake someone depending on the speed they take to come round.

There's a lot of time cleaning for sterility/putting the drapes on/sliding patients back onto their bed etc. I often wait a good 20-45m with the patient asleep and ready before surgeons start

buffyslayer · 08/06/2024 10:04

I was really scared but it was fine. I wake up very quickly then am wide awake for 2 days after which is always a bit weird!

I'm a redhead so seem to metabolise anaesthetic fast and never woken up in an op. Last one was 5hrs and i was wiped for a good few weeks but that was mostly the healing stuff

BlossomToLeaves · 08/06/2024 11:31

Destiny123 · 08/06/2024 09:57

We don't anaesthetise without monitoring for safety sakes (unless sub 5years old and don't want to fight the child taking our cables off so in that instance its just the oxygen probe for them, till they fall asleep). You would have done, often described as "sticky dots on your shoulders" and a peg on your finger

We often give sedation for nerve blocks to make them easier to tolerate, that very often wipes memory

Anaesthetically we take up 15mins at the start to put people to sleep (40 if complex and need lines), and 10-30min to wake someone depending on the speed they take to come round.

There's a lot of time cleaning for sterility/putting the drapes on/sliding patients back onto their bed etc. I often wait a good 20-45m with the patient asleep and ready before surgeons start

Show quote history

Actually now that you mention that, it's coming back to me. they did put the sticky pads on, because I remember them saying they'd put one on my shoulder to start with, and then remove it later on before the surgeon came so that she could operate there! My memory must have been wiped a bit but it's clearly not totally forgotten :) So they will have done the rest of it too, I'm sure.

Makes sense that it took so much other time for all the preparation and cleaning. I was covered with the pink stuff they use to clean afterwards, took ages to get it off my skin. So that probably took up most of the time and the surgery was probably the usual time. The surgeon did talk to me afterwards but I was too groggy to ask anything. I might find out more when I have a follow up. I wish there was more in my hospital notes, but there isn't really, just a list of the drugs and times, and a summary that they did the op and it was fine!

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