To be scared shitless of a gallbladder op?

[OhFFSWhatsWrongNow]

Ok, yes I probably abu. There's people out there having brain surgery, heart surgery, lung transplants etc. and then there's me worrying myself senseless about a poxy little gallbladder removal operation that is done by keyhole and is one of the most performed surgeries on the nhs.

Yes, yes I am being a wimp, I know. But I am fucking terrified :(

If it is any help, I had mine out by keyhole. The anaesthetic goes in the back of your hand and it feels lovely- like a huge gin and tonic washing over you.
I woke up and felt completely normal. I wanted to get up but they made me lie in bed for two hours. No pain- not even a paracetemol. DH came early and took me home - I think they were fed up with me; I was bored and restless.
It was much less traumatic than a visit to the dentist. No stitches, no pain.

Gosh, I'm so sorry OP! There I was, right at the begining, being supportive and then I buggered off!

RL got in the way - damn it!

Anyway, everything has been said that I would have said. Personally, I loved that bit after you come round and you just have to sleep. You know when your kids wake you up too early and you have to force yourself to stay awake, but you'd rather not? Well, you can! And no one is going to care or demand you're on your feet and doing something! It was the most wonderful feeling to me!

I haven't read all the thread, but had to have a routine op recently. I was terrified of the GA. I was worried I'd die (from the GA) and leave my kids?!? Sorry not helpful but I'm getting there. And like you, I was worried about the GA and not the op itself or the recovery. I embarrassingly cried when I told the anaesthetist... Anyway, he gave me "something to calm" me (a sedative I guess) and I was fine. I did feel me "slipping away" and asked if they'd given me the anaesthetic. But I didn't panic. I was fine. I'm still nervous about GA, but less so than before.

Your doctors are professionals. You'll be fine. And so much better off than now. Best of luck!

I'm also waiting for a date for my gallbladder operation after spending 5 days last week in hospital with it infected! I'm also terrified if the GA so thanks OP for starting this thread it's been good reading all the replies.

tmae I'm doing the low fat diet, trying not to eat anything with more than 3-5g of fat per 100g. Very boring and I'm most annoyed that I'm not going to be having my usual Friday night pizza!

I can't think of anyone, who if they were being honest, wouldn't be at least a little bit worried before any sort of surgery. It's totally normal and understandable. Same as going on a plane or down in a submarine or something. These things aren't 'natural' states and we have to hand control totally to others. Although statistically they're pretty damn safe, you wouldn't be human if you weren't apprehensive. Doesn't matter whether someone else has brain surgery or a heart transplant. Doesn't mean you can't give yourself permission to feel scared.

My dad said the pain after gall bladder surgery was less than an actual gall bladder attack. He was in his late 70's when he had his removed and said it was a blessed relief to get the bugger out.

Re the anaesthetic bit. Focus on relaxing all your muscles while you you are waiting for them to give you it. Breathe evenly and as slowly as you can and try to let the experience just 'wash over you' if that makes any sense. Once you go in the pre-op room they get on with stuff pretty fast in my experience so you won't be having to keep yourself relaxed very long at all. And someone will be with you and helping put you at ease. You won't be aware of actually going to sleep. They'll just slowly put the anaesthetic in your hand and next thing you know you'll be waking up after it's all over and done with.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes

GA is very safe these days. I give somewhere between 3 and 15 a day (depending on whether the list is lots of short cases or a few longer ones).

Depending on which hospital you're at, you will either be given your anaesthetic in a small room just next to theatre and then wheeled through, or taken straight into theatre and anaesthetised in there (all our patients are anaesthetised in theatre but some hospital when I was training still used anaesthetic rooms).

You'll be seen by the anaesthetist preop, who will ask about medical conditions or current prescribed medication. They will assess your airway (mouth opening and jaw movement). Here we ask patients to sign consent for anaesthesia, in the uk 5 years ago we didn't but that may have changed.

You'll have monitoring attached to look at heart rate and rhythm, oxygen levels and blood pressure. A small cannula goes into a vein (I use local anaesthetics through a tiny needle first to numb the skin before I put the cannula in) and the staff go through a checklist confirming patient identity, procedure and site, allergies (WHO checklist) before you're given drugs through the iv line which have you asleep in 10-30seconds.

I don't use gas inductions on adults unless there are very specific (rare) airway issues. You may be asked to breathe 100% oxygen through a mask before you go to sleep but it's not compulsory and if I have patients who are terrified if things over their faces (with otherwise straightforward airways) I don't put the mask on until they're asleep.

For very anxious patients I still use benzo premeds (lorazepam or temazepam) which can help. Mostly I talk to them, reassure them and they're fine.

I'd be happy to explain what happens next if you would like to know but equally happy to stop there!

Once surgery is over they turn off the anaesthetic and you wake up. You're wheeled to the recovery room where a nurse monitors your conscious level, vital signs, gives pain / sickness meds if needed. From there you go to the ward or daystay unit depending on whether you're going home that day or staying overnight.

YANBU to be scared, most people are. It's very very normal!

Thanks so much everyone for talking me down. It has really helped me a lot :) I talked to a family member who also had a GA and he has calmed me down too :)

Obviously still scared but don't feel as bad now.

hic am going to pm you about a few things if you don't mind :)

maureen don't worry I understand rl gets in the way of mn I suppose it's true I will be off my feet for a little while while dh fannys about doing everything. Not sure if that's a good thing or jut

Your anaesthetist will come and see you beforehand and talk you through everything and once you're in the anaesthetic room there will be someone there who's job it is to basically hold your hand and keep yo calm as you go to sleep.
If you tell your anaesthetist which bits are worrying you they will do their best to either explain why we need to do those bits, or avoid doing them. You will need a facemask with oxygen over your nose and mouth as you're going to sleep even if they don't use gas to put you to sleep, just to make sure your lungs are full of oxygen, but if it makes you feel claustrophobic then you can hold it in place so you have a bit of control over it.
The drugs that get you off to sleep work in seconds so you probably won't even remember the falling asleep bit.
One of my patients (who may well have dabbled in not too legal substances in his time) spent the 30 secs or so it took him to fall asleep saying 'fucking hell this shit is amazing, this is the best I've ever had, fuck this is amazing!' So, (despite having given many anaesthetics) although I've never had an anaesthetic myself, apparently it feels quite nice!!

OhFFS - pm away :)

Just wanted to share the story of my first GA.

Anxious when it was administered, I was advised to keep my eye on the second hand of the clock as it swept round.

Next thing I knew I was telling the nurses in a panicky voice "I'm not asleep yet! I'm not asleep yet!"

Kind nurse (stifling a giggle) "It's OK you're all done dear!"