GA tomorrow - the fear is building!

[BillyDaveysDaughter]

I'm undergoing gallbladder removal tomorrow under GA. I haven't had a general since 1985, and I am very, very frightened of feeling or being sick afterwards (as in, emetophobic - the fear of vomiting is with me every day and has been for 40 years).

I'm pretty calm about being put to sleep, I don't think I'll want the pre-med - I'd don't like to feel groggy if it can be avoided. I have no fears of dying or not waking up, or of waking up during the op. It's just the sickness thing.

I've had a pre-surgical assessment, they were very kind and understanding and assured me that modern anaesthesia includes an intravenous anti-emetic anyway. I begged them to load me up with anti-sickness and they made a note and smiled indulgently.

I also asked if I could avoid the painkillers which commonly cause nausea, like morphine - I said I'm quite stoic and would like to stick with intravenous paracetamol at first, and see how it goes. The nurse said there are many alternatives to morphine, but paracetamol directly into a vein is just as good.

The majority of people I've asked said they felt fine after a GA and were actually starving hungry when they woke up. A friend who had a kidney removed via keyhole sent his wife for biscuits when he woke up, and he's the biggest wimp ever.

It's just day surgery, I'll only be under for an hour or so and I'll be home by mid afternoon. But I'm still catastrophising and having visions of all sorts of grim outcomes upon waking.

Please tell me your stories of it all being a piece of cake - and yes I have posted before, but now the op is TOMORROW and I'm bricking it.

Hi! Not bad, not bad at all...still have slightly trembly arms and legs, and feel a bit dizzy on and off, but no pain at all (only the incisions and they're already feeling less tender). I don't much like the peculiar dragging/pulling sensation inside - it's weird that I can feel my innards. I guess things will be bruised for a while.

I'm still plagued with questions about it all. What drugs was I given, which one do they think caused me the extreme muscle weakness, nausea and inability to move or speak properly for 7+ hours? (nobody else seemed to have that problem)? How many clips do I have left inside me and are they titanium or plastic? How will I know if the bile duct clips are leaking and how likely is it?

All questions for the surgeon at follow up I suppose. Then there's diet - how likely is it that I'll have problems digesting fat, how long will it take to adjust? How low fat is low enough? I'm still being super careful with food so soon after the surgery, when is it safe to relax a bit and eat something with more than 3g of fat in it?

I am a bit inclined to overthink things and irritate the shit out of people.

In the meantime, I have crocheted Wicket the Ewok and started Jabba the Hut, towards the ultimate Star Wars collection. Whilst watching endless episodes of Gogglebox and drinking tea. Rock and roll.

I understand that this is an Ewok.

I don’t think you need to worry about fat - I was told to just eat normally and it’s been fine. Been really enjoying food again.

I love your ewok!

My only issue (now 2.5 weeks after surgery) is an itchy rash around my scars.

I don't know anything about gall bladders I'm afraid but I love your Ewok. Funnily enough I was planning on using my recovery time, having a GA on Wednesday, to teach myself to crochet, do you think I'll have time before then ? Not sure about Judge Judy though.

I am self taught MrsDingle - started watching YouTube crochet tutorials with Bellacoco, then watched other tutorials on amigurumi (Ami2Go, I think) and started making little toys. I think I've made about 25 in the last 18 months, I have a never-ending list of requests!

You can teach yourself how to make a granny square by next Wednesday, easily. Pop over to Hobbycraft and get a couple of nice colours - 100% acrylic, 4mm DK yarn, and a 4mm hook - and look up Bellacoco!

Thanks Splendide - I'm feeling quite positive, I've had none of my usual rumblings or stomach discomfort at all, in fact it's conspicuous by its absence - wonder if my gallstones were responsible for years of digestive troubles?

How exciting! I'm quite accustomed to dashing for the loo after eating a large meal on an empty stomach, or eating something fatty too quickly - maybe it's all been dysfunctional in there for a long time, I just labelled it IBS...maybe getting shot of the gallbladder will be the answer!

Hi OP
Glad you’re on the mend!
Just to say I had a horrendous reaction to cyclizine when I was in hospital. I instantly went boiling hot, couldn’t move and my tongue felt like I couldn’t control it to talk. Luckily my dad was with me as they gave the injection so saw the difference and could immediately identify what caused it.
I have a Dr friend who has since told me that it’s fairly common to react to cyclizine injections but that it’s routinely used as it’s a cheap drug! It’s all over my notes not to have it again, it was awful.
Maybe this was the cause for you, especially if everything seemed to get worse after you had it?

Yes, Mrs Burgundy, I felt boiling hot too - they kept covering me in blankets and I kept pushing them off, I begged DH to open the window. I thought you were supposed to feel cold after a GA!

Interesting. I saw an endless stream of nurses and don't remember much of it clearly, but one of them did mention the cyclizine. All the time they were nagging me to sit up, wake up, drink this, try eating that. I was getting quite distressed because I could hardly move my limbs or stay awake and they kept on and on and on at me - eventually they seemed impatient, like I was purposely dragging it out and exaggerating or something.

When they gently said there was "no medical reason to keep me" (like I was trying to get a free night away or something), I assured them that all I wanted was to go home, but I had no strength and felt half dead. They kept repeating its the drugs, it's the drugs. As I was struggling to swallow, couldn't they have given me fluids through my cannula to help flush the drugs out, hurry my kidneys and bladder up, and maybe, you know, help me feel better?

I don't know. I feel cheated, everyone said having a GA was like having a lovely sleep but they kept waking me up, couldn't do anything to help me but got impatient when I wasn't walking and talking properly within a couple of hours.

But thanks for sharing your cyclizine experience, it sounds familiar!

Hi OP glad you're feeling a bit better. I'm a few days ahead of you and I'm getting far braver about my diet. Have had home made korma, a sausage sandwich and MILs apple pie, with no ill effects at all. I've tried 1 'risky' food each day.
I enjoyed the fact I lost a stone pre-surgery, am extremely doubtful it's going to stay off at this rate!
Hopefully you'll be able to start eating properly very soon.

Oh are you Sunshine - good to know! A korma and a sausage sandwich, bloody hell you like living dangerously haha.

I tentatively had crunchy nut cornflakes with semi skimmed milk at lunchtime, no effects other than feeling a bit sick. I feel sort of giddy and feeble still, I guess that's inevitable only 5 days after surgery?

What did you do about your dressings? They didn't change mine before I left the hospital, so they're a bit gross, but the nurse said to leave them in situ for at least 5 days. If they start lifting before then, I was to put new ones on. They said I could shower as normal, just not to scrub at them with soap.

They're still stuck fast with no lifting, should I just leave them to come off on their own? The nurse said leaving them reduces chance of infection, but they look revolting...

Can't help you with that one, they glued my incisions, used so much I looked like a lemon drizzle cake! So no dressings. I wasn't allowed to shower for 48 hours then each time I did after that a little bit of the glue became slightly loose. Have to confess to picking at the bits no where near any of the incisions.
It's all off now and I just have little tiny scabs in the belly button and gall bladder incisions, the other 2 are almost healed. The belly button one has been the most irritating because it rubs on clothes but apart from some stinging it's not been too bad.
If you count surgery day as day 1 I'm day 10 today. I feel almost completely recovered and could probably go to work on Monday except I've been told no driving for 2 weeks.
Hopefully your incisions will be similar, the big improvement was around day 8 for me.

Lemon drizzle cake lol. I've got dissolvable stitches apparently - they were all very tender but now I can't feel any of them apart from the belly button one, which is a bit stingy.

It's day 6 today and I feel a bit low/fed up. No desire to get up. My belly is gurgly and grumbly this morning, a sharp pain woke me at the gallbladder site at 6am (think it was the way I was laying), and I haven't had a poo since Tuesday. Mind you, that's actually not that unusual for me - my record is 8 days, and that's without a GA.

I'm in a funk today, need to snap out of it. I've got another week off work but the idea of going back is overwhelming at the moment.

If your dressings aren’t off already you can take them off now. I’d get started on some gentle laxatives as all the drugs they gave you will cause you to be constipated. I still think it sounds like a reaction to cyclizine that you had, worth mentioning if you ever need an op again.

In terms of clips, it’s likely you have 4 inside you - two on the cystic duct and two on the cystic artery. I use metal ones but some people use plastic, both are fine. You’d know by now if you had a bile leak so don’t worry about that, sounds like you’re recovering well!

Thanks Welsh. No need for laxatives, my bowel has woken up and things are extremely...loose.

I've been carefully avoiding fat, but equally I've only been eating soluble fibre (bagels, white bread, plain mashed potato) and protein (chicken, ham), so I guess it doesn't have much to work with.

All par for the course I suppose, although it would be good to see whether it's just temporary or if this is how things are going to be now.

I had a GA and felt fine after, in fact I was hungry due to not eating beforehand! Good luck am sure it'll be fine.

Hope you're feeling better and your digestive system is settling down. My 2 weeks is up so I'm back to work tomorrow, I think I'm 95% fit now, just struggling to lift things and Hoover up ( shame!)

Actually sunshine day 7 and 8 have been very normal! Can't be sure about the, erm, bowel issues yet - things have been fine for a couple of days but my system was erratic even before the surgery, so I'm not counting my loo rolls chickens yet.

I decided to have a good mooch around Sainsburys this afternoon and gathered a very heavy basket of stuff - soon regretted that, I suddenly felt very achy and weary. Had to come home and have a little sit down!

Good luck going back to work tomorrow