AIBU to ask you to share your positive surgery success stories? Having an op and I’m terrified.

[Cantpee]

Im having surgery in a few weeks, to correct a surgery that I already had that went very wrong.

I had a caesarean and during it the surgeon accidentally stitched through my ureter, blocking urine from going from my kidney. This led to kidney failure and I have been living with a nephrostomy bag for the past 6 months.

It has been an awful awful time and I’m so glad I’m going to rid of the bag and all of its associated issues but suddenly I’m terrified that the surgery will go wrong again. They will be reconstructing my ureters and bladder and hopefully it will be done robotically/laparoscopically. Normally I would be blasé about the risks involved but having had a surgery go wrong they are all I can focus on and I’m so scared. I’m worried I won’t wake up or that if I do I’ll have no bladder or another horrendous injury.

AIBU to ask for all your surgical success stories and how they have positively changed your life?

I had major abdominal surgery a few years ago. I was petrified that I would wake up part way through. In my case it all went well and saved my life.
Easier said than done, but try not to worry. I hope it all well for you.

Wishing you all the best OP. Had cholecystectony two days ago. It all went smoothly and I'm recovering well so far. It will eventually be really lovely to not be in pain any more and the staff were all so kind and thorough. I was also worried after having had a complicated c section a while ago, but it could not have gone better. I hope all goes well for you.

I had life changing for the worse surgery (aka surgery gone wrong). So I understand your concerns and dont think anyone can totally ease them.
Since my surgery that went wrong I've had two corrective surgeries and my gallbladder removed with success.
I would tell the anesthetic team your worries and if need be they can give you some sedation before it also helps the team understand yo better. I had many staff tell me not to worry it will be fine (when they really couldn't say that for sure) until I told them the background. Also they nearly cancelled my surgery because of high blood pressure until they realised it was only high because of the stress and they would not be able to reduce it.

Try not to worry op I think the chance of anything going wrong again is really minimal. Do explain your fears to your surgical team though. I’ve had quite a few operations and a couple more coming up this year. Granted nothing went wrong but it’s normal to be scared and anxious. Wishing you all the best

Between the ages of 18 and 22 I repeatedly was getting ill with various issues...some quite serious. I had my wisdom teeth removed at 22 under general anaesthetic and reacted quite badly after. However I have hardly been sick since and recon I have had less than 2 weeks off I'll in the 35 years since

I had surgery for endometrosis.
Changed my life.
I used to be in agony 10 days every month.
It's now about 10-20 days a year and nowhere near as severe.

Hope all goes well for you.

I've had 2 fairy big ops (hysterectomy and pin and plates in my shoulder ) and a couple of more minor ones (gallbladder removal and knee arthroscopy). Oh and my wisdom teeth out under GA.

The worst was the shoulder one. I mean it went to plan but my god the recovery was sooo painful!

They all improved my life long term and I don't regret them, but when I broke my other shoulder 2 years later, they were considering the same surgery again. I'm not stupid, I would take it if I was seriously advised to, but it was so painful I asked for more conservative management first and thankfully it was managed with a cast and then a sling.

The GAs were fine. I love GAs!

I’ve had more than my fair share! In chronological order and over a period of 25 years;
Surgery for cervical cancer in situ - LA
4 wisdom teeth removed under - GA
Lining of womb removed - GA
Melanoma surgery - LA
Hysterectomy - Sedation and spinal block
Knee replacement - Sedation and spinal block.
All were fine.
I’m currently recovering from my second melanoma surgery plus skin graft - LA. This was my most traumatic as the LA didn’t work fully! 😬

I’ve had 10+ surgeries. Only 2 had complications.
Surgery is very safe these days, especially if you’ve had similar before.

I had a twisted ovarian dermoid and a raging abdo infection that had been missed by my gp.

I crawled into A&E at 3am, and passed out. I came round, had time to tell them my name and where it hurt, and then things got hazy. I remember being in agony, not much else.

Then a blissful pre-op needle, and I came round on women's surgical the next morning with hip to hip stitches, a morphine self administer thingy on my arm and absolutely no pain. I doubt I'll ever be that grateful again. The doctors were brilliant.😊

Good luck OP. I'm sure you'll be fine.

It's completely understandable-you were one of the unlucky ones. Lots of people have CS (etc) and are fine, but as you know, things can happen. Hopefully, this time you will be one of the lucky ones. Control what you can-ask questions about each stage, and if you feel you aren't progressing in your recovery as planned, don't be afraid to contact doctors for advice. Try to get someone to come in to help in the first week or so after surgery, plan your meals (maybe batch cook/freeze) and download some books/films, ready to enjoy.

Surgery on my ear, quite close to my brain. Last minute they nearly didn't do it because I had a cough and that's not a good idea with ear drum involvement, but I managed to convince them to do it. All good and successful.

Surgery to repair a broken ankle then several other surgeries on it for the metalwork. All successful. I woke up crying after the initial one as I had convinced myself I wouldn't come around from the anaesthetic. Very nice nurse was very kind to me. Woke up in pain from another and soon got given enough happy juice to send me to happy la la land. Woke up cold from the other and was given THE BEST warming blanket in the whole wide world! It sort of inflates and blows hot air through itself. Marvellous invention, 100/10 so I'd recommend telling them that you're cold in recovery and asking for the bear hugger (real name!) 😄

I haven't had surgery, but just wanted to say that I imagine the surgeons will be on high alert throughout your op, knowing that they are fixing what went wrong last time. They will be completely focused on giving you the best possible outcome, and will be wanting to do an amazing job for you.

Good luck, I hope you are really happy with the results of your surgery.

💐 @Cantpee There’s this whole other layer of worry & anxiety when you need corrective surgery. I think a lot of those feelings come from this overwhelming feeling of unfairness & why me? There’s no reasonable answer sadly. I’ve had 40+ big abdo surgeries, & have a permanent ileostomy, but everything went to absolute s**t after surgery 2. I got every complication listed in the ‘Potential Illness & Surgery Side Effects Booklet’ & had to wait over 12 months for the op to correct it all. That op was successful, & the only reason I’ve needed further is my illness progressing/returning/relapsing. Do you have a nephrostomy nurse specialist who you could have a cuppa & a chat with? Hugs 🤗

I am 2 weeks out of hip replacement surgery ,my first hospital experience in my 52 years and I was absolutely terrified. Didn't help that my consultant did not give any information prior to the procedure...I now realise that my anxiety nearly killed me before surgery was done.Waiting time pain and the unknown are worse than the process itself.Surely they know it's corrective surgery in your case and they will go out of their way to ensure nothing goes wrong. Have faith,your quality of life will massively improve after the op!

It’s understandable that you’re going to be more anxious because this is a surgery to correct a previous surgery, so not a first time experience which would already potentially bring some anxiety.

IME anaesthetists have seen it all before and they are some of the most understanding people when it comes to be reassuring and putting tools in place to make you feel more comfortable.

I’ve had numerous surgeries over the past few years but most notably I had a heart transplant last year and I knew going in that there was a 10% chance I wouldn’t survive (this is general odds) and a 10% chance I wouldn’t make it through the first year. And on my journey I’ve known people who have become part of both of those statistics.

For me the fear was more something going wrong and waking up not the same person as I was going in i.e. that I could have a stroke or similar.

My view very much was that if I didn’t wake up I wouldn’t know about it so ironically I wasn’t scared of that.

Talk to the team and explain how you feel. They’ve seen it all before, you’re not the first and you won’t be the last to feel this way.

Good luck