Just wanted to come back and update. Had my op yesterday and by all accounts it went well, usually takes around an hour and he got it done in thirty minutes!
I told the staff from the get go that I was nervous and they were all brilliant, no one made me feel silly or pathetic for being afraid and they asked exactly what my worries were so they could deal with them if they could and they kept me so busy chatting I didn't have the chance to get into a panic about any of it.
In theatre the bed was so comfortable and it was heated so we had a joke about it being a high end spa. The anaethetist's nurse kept me chatting while the anaethetist sat on the floor with my hand dangling over the side of the bed so my IV was all done out of my sight. I didn't even feel it being done he was so quick, at one point he was rapidly tapping it to get the vein up and it felt like he was kissing the back of my hand 
He had told me ahead of time that the anaesthetic isn't instantaneous and they had some monitors and things to get set up first so he was going to give me a little something to help keep chill whole they did that. He gave me some fentanyl and it was wonderful, like that lightly toasted feeling you have when you're relaxing in a beer garden and two gins into the evening. He also gave me a painkiller and an anti-emetic. They put on chest stickies, blood pressure cuff, and a knobbly thing across my forehead that monitors brain waves so they'll know if there are any signs of waking up. The whole time this was going on I was warm under a blanket and snuggled in with what felt like foam blocks pushed alongside and under me and the nurse was chatting with me about all sorts of normal stuff. One minute we were talking about holidays and the next I was waking up in recovery.
It was slightly disorienting waking up in recovery because it really was "in theatre chatting" and then what felt like instantly "where the fuck am I now?" I had apparently been awake and talking for a few minutes before I knew I was awake. I had some pain so they put something in my IV and gave me some liquid morphine too. Then I felt sick so they gave me another anti-emetic in my IV. I felt really emotional and weepy which they said was just the drugs and the anaesthetic, it passed within a few minutes. Anaethetist, nurse, and surgeon all came to check on me. After around twenty minutes I went back to the ward and they left me to have a rest but I couldn't sleep even though I felt shattered, my eyes kept pinging open. I was very uncomfortable but not in pain, the area in between the very top incision and the next one along was really sore.
They took me in a wheelchair to try the loo and I thought they were taking the piss when they said it was because walking would be painful. They were not taking the piss. Standing up made me feel like I'd been stabbed in the side and walking made it feel like my lower right ribcage was full of ground glass. They said that's normal because they've basically been cutting and rearranging inside you, you have wounds, bruising, swelling, etc. More painkillers and morphine when I got back to the room and they brought me some tea and toast which it took me over an hour to eat because I had a sore throat and horrible cotton mouth.
They helped me to sit in the armchair instead of the bed because I felt more comfortable sitting and was still very sore. I don't know why I didn't expect the level of soreness? Again lots of reassurance from my nurse that this was all normal and to be expected, she told me she could see me improving already though compared to how out of it I was in recovery and when I first came back to the ward.
I went to theatre at 3pm, back on the ward by 3.50pm and then by 7pm I was ready to go home. I was tired and in pain but it was manageable. The nurse helped me put my PJs on and they took me out to my lift in a wheelchair and helped me get in the car.
At home I went to bed and DH propped me up because lying flat hurt. I dozed but kept waking up, he brought me painkillers at 9, then I crashed out for the night at around 10. I had such a good sleep! Slept right through to 7 and when I woke up I'd not only slid down to a lying position, I'd rolled onto my side. DH brought me painkillers then helped me stand up. Standing up doesn't hurt this morning so there's progress already but walking still gives the awful stabbing pain in my top right side. And I'm so tired still. I woke up at 7, had a nap from 8 til 10, came downstairs, and now I'm ready for another nap. I'm due more painkillers in around half an hour and I'm already aware of it because I'm starting to ache. They did send me home with some liquid morphine but I want to hold off using it because it makes me weepy and makes my head fuzzy, I've got it as back up though. I feel a bit chesty today too and have coughed up manky stuff a couple of times, this is from the breathing tube and it hurts my wounds.