I’m having surgery today and terrified

[Blunget]

Nothing major nothing too crazy but under GA I’m now working myself in to a huuuuge panic. Please anyone give me a bloody pep talk / and or any coping tips for the long waits so I don’t convince myself I’m going to die?!

Have assisted at many a GA and been in the recovery room with patients. You will be fine. Many say amusing stuff when coming round. Been hugged by many.

You will be fine, I promise! I was so scared before my GA that I cried in the theatre but the staff were so kind and chatted and joked with me to put me at my ease. One even held my hand. I remember just before falling asleep a moment of complete and utter relaxation and then, what felt like a second later, feeling annoyed I was being woken from the best sleep I’ve had since I had children! Good luck x

IME if you aren't going to be under for long they tend to give deep sedation rather than GA, which does knock you out so you aren't aware/awake but feel amazing when you come to.

If a procedure requires GA then you get GA, not sedation, regardless of the duration of surgery. They are different. (DOI: anaesthetist)

I had a GA yesterday. I had never had one before and like you I was very anxious. It was fine and I felt well looked after. The only weird thing was waking up with people all looking at me, I thought I was at home in bed. I think I remember saying " who the hell are you, where am I?" 😀

People always think about the risks associated with anaesthetic, but you have to weigh this up against the risk of not treating your condition. A surgeon will only recommend surgery when the long-term risks of not treating outweigh the immediate risks of the surgery.

Another thing to remember is that the risks of surgery are well-known to everyone assisting with your surgery, and they will be very experienced at managing these.

The last GA I had was while I was pregnant. My health had significantly deteriorated and they needed to perform a C section under a general anaesthetic. Being pregnant carries a higher risk of complication, and I had eaten a few hours earlier (not knowing that this was going to be happening later that day). The anaesthetist just said that they would manage the risk of food coming up my airway and that the risk of not doing the surgery was much greater.

Good luck!

I was you a few months ago

the waiting and nil by mouth was by far the worst thing- I had to wait until gone 6pm (hopefully you won’t)

honestly the GA was amazing. I’ll never be worried about that part again

Don't worry about farting (or worse) when you are under. I had to have a mastectomy when I had extremely unstable bowels and was worried beyond measure that I would have diarrhoea while I was under anaesthetic. I spoke to the surgeon about my worries and she said it was extremely unlikely to be a problem but if I was worried I could wear incontinence pants, which I did. When I came round afterwards my pants were completely clean and dry. Not a drop of see or even a slight poo stain, and I had been having diarrhoea 7 times a day. Must be magic in those drugs!

Oh another thing I wanted to mention - if you wear glasses, make sure you get whoever to pop them back on your face ASAP when you wake up.

I can't see at all without mine, and the panic and overwhelm when I woke up from each of my GA operations was immediately partially relieved when they finally slapped my glasses on. Before that I was basically like, where am I, what is everyone trying to say to me, who are all of these people, and please god is one of them my husband?! Which seemed to go on forever until I could finally see!

If there's ever a next time, I'm going to ask dh to put them on me before I've even woken up

Actually I've just realised the time, op is probably under right now! Hope you are OK op and they put your glasses on promptly if applicable!