Surgery Fears

[kimmiekoko]

I am possibly going to be having total hip replacement surgery sometime this year. My biggest fear is not the pain from surgery or post-op pain, to only have that to worry about would be a total breeze! The biggest distress is coming from the fear of getting sick from anesthesia after waking up, and also from taking pain meds. This is something that frightens me more than anything else about the procedure. Like I said, pain I can deal with and I don't get the least bit anxious about, its the other side of it that drives me into panic stage.
I had another surgery about 2 years ago and had the same fears, and because of the outcome of it, my thoughts keep going back to that time thinking that it will be a repeat. I didn't actually get sick, just felt like it all day long, it was the most horrible thing, even with taking phenergan. Also, I had really worked myself up before hand with extreme anxiety about it all. I told the anesthesiologist about a million times, I think, that I have an extreme fear of v** and to please give me whatever there is to prevent it. They had to give me extra of the stuff that relaxes you down.
To be free of this debilitating problem would be miraculous. Any other problems I have are nothing in comparison to this!

[jennnh]

i am in the EXACT same boat. i found out today i am getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth out... im so scared. two of my friends v* from it. and the pain killers...

i guess all we have is to beg for them to understand and pump us with anti-emets

[wargerbil]

I had appendicitis (my appendix actually burst) and had to have an open appendectomy after they went in endoscopically and went "whoops! too late!." I didn't v* from the appendicitis, from drinking like 20 oz of disgusting flavored contrast drink, after surgery, or with pain meds in the hospital. They pumped me full of anti-emetics pre-surgery, post-surgery, and before dosing me with pain meds. If I can survive all that with APPENDICITIS and major abdominal surgery, I think you'll be just fine with the hip replacement!!

[TexasGrl2011]

I agree tell them to pump you up with anti v* medication that's what i did before i had my C-section since I knw i would be sick after so they pumped me with them and i ended up taking motrin for pain since hydro makes me sick it worked like a charm. good luck

[kimmiekoko]

Hey Jenn, I had my wisdom teeth, all 4 at the same time, taken out way back when I was 18. I had the same fears then as I do now, 28 years later, and I ended up getting sick from the stuff they gave me to knock me out. But I know that they have come a long way since then with anesthesia procedures, a lot of advancement.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

[ButterfliesInHerEyes]

Talk to the anesthesiologist. They can combine antiemetics and antianxiety meds to ensure your best chance of not vomiting. They do this in hospitals in surgeries where post-op vomiting would be dangerous. They use the same approach to prevent nausea and vomiting in cancer patients receiving chemo.

[ssjj]

I recently had major spinal surgery and had the same worries. If you didn't v* before, I doubt you would now as they really are amazing at keeping n* under control with all the meds. I think anxiety plays a large part in the n* too, so try to remember that the doctors don't want you to v* and there are many options to stop it. In fact, because my phobia was so bad, they even agreed that because I woke up with a tube down my nose to my stomach, they could pump my stomach if I felt like I was about to v* to stop it. Good luck!

[kimmiekoko]

Talk to the anesthesiologist. They can combine antiemetics and antianxiety meds to ensure your best chance of not vomiting. They do this in hospitals in surgeries where post-op vomiting would be dangerous. They use the same approach to prevent nausea and vomiting in cancer patients receiving chemo.

I will ask my husband about that, he just so happens to be an anesthesiologist. He says he rarely has any of his patients get sick after waking up, maybe only a very slight percentage. You would think that that would be enough to settle my nerves about it all, but I guess because it has been such a life long automatic reaction to anything to do with v*, it's difficult to just believe someone, especially when there are no guarantees when it comes to this. Maybe I feel more frightened about the nausea than the actual v*, it's that initial anticipation of it happening when you feel nauseated, and I know that the anxiety only further perpetuates it.
I once started to work on this problem with CBT with a therapist, and felt that I made a little progress when I so happened to get the stomach flu, when I was feeling as though I was fixing to get sick, I started repeating the work "calm" and telling myself that it's nothing to get worked up over, it's a natural thing that happens, and that I will survive. My anxiety level went way down, and although I did actually get sick anyway, the lower anxiety level made the whole event seem less devastating.

[lyndsayanne]

hi
i have had alot of surgiries some have caused N* but never from the anesthesia they tend to dose you up with anti emetics before hand also i was in an medically induced coma a few years ago and never v* from the drugs anesthesia although did v* from a NG tube after my last surgery just over a year ago i had an 8 hour op and the closest i came to V* was waking up with the ventilator tube still in which is common for major surgery but still managed to shout at the poor anethnatist when he took it out i did not voimit from any pain meds and was on some pretty heavy duty drugs (ketamine, fentynl,and morphine) none of which made me sick i don't know if this will help any but if i can do it anyone can
lynds
ps sorry got a bit carried away

[kimmiekoko]

Wow, you went through some extensive stuff there, lyndsayanne! I know I tend to get pretty wimpy with this kind of stuff, but only the fear of v*. I do not fear surgery in the slightest bit, I don't fear pain, not that I enjoy it, just that there's no anxiety there about it. If there was somehow a miraculous guarantee of no v*, my anxiety level would be really low going into surgery, nothing else phases me like the v* fear. It's the whole reason why I have a hard time just going to see someone in the hospital, I get faint just walking in the door.
This is something I really desire to overcome. It's very debilitating.

[lyndsayanne]

i found it debilitating till face with having to do it all i was trying to say is i had a massive amount of anesthesia and it did not make e V* i had and still to a degree have a ver severe phobia of it all you can do it
lynds

[kimmiekoko]

i found it debilitating till face with having to do it all i was trying to say is i had a massive amount of anesthesia and it did not make e V* i had and still to a degree have a ver severe phobia of it all you can do it
lynds

Thanks for the encouragement!

[chocolategirl]

I have a bad kidney and have had four surgeries. Back when i had those the anesthesia always made me sick until i got an iv instead of the mask. Just ask the doctors and they can give you an anti v* drug so you won't be sick! Don't worry im sure youll be fine!

[kimmiekoko]

Thanks chocolategirl!

[freedomfighter]

last year i had both my jaws broken , widened and reset and then wired together i was terrified about the anaesthetic and the fact that i could swallow a whole lot of blood which the stomach cannot handle i was shaking and crying before i had to go down to theatre i kept on telling the anestatist that i was scared of being sick and she said theyd give me something to stop that happening i felt nauseous when i woke up but it wasnt as bad as i thought although i was worried about the efect of the strong pain killers so i didnt take any but boy do i wish i did the pain was off the scale for days it was unbearable!

[kimmiekoko]

gosh, freedomfighter, I can't imagine just how painful that had to be!! I had the same thought go through my mind about the pain killers they will give me upon awakening. I have always gotten sick from pain pills, except for this last surgery I had. My dr. told me to take phenergan, meclizine and xanax 30 min. before taking the pills and to also nibble on a few crackers. I couldn't believe it but that did the trick, amazingly, I did not get sick from the pain pills for the first time in my life. But, if they give them to me upon awakening from surgery, I won't be able to do that, so it worries me.

[zipity]

I had a c-section and I didn't get sick. Poor anesthesiologist probably thought I was nuts because I was in active labor having excrutiating contractions and I'm asking him if I'm going to barf. He said "it's possible. It's pretty common". When I told him I had a phobia he said he would give me something *if* I felt nauseous. But I never felt nauseous! I even heard the doctor ask the nurse afterwards in the recovery room if I got sick while he was out of the room, when she said no he was like "hmm" like he was impressed or surprised. Lol The pain killer they gave me was called toridol (sp) It's pretty much the IV version of motrin. It was good stuff. They offered me percocet I think and sent me home with a prescription but never needed it. Plus I didn't want to take it because I have a family history of having bad reactions to it. Plus I was afraid it would make me sick.
Good luck!

[kimmiekoko]

Hey zipity, that's funny that you were asking him that, that is exactly what I would have asked too! My husband is an anesthesiologist and most of his cases are c-sections and giving epidurals. I wonder if he has ever come across someone like us with a phobia? I might ask him that.

[kimmiekoko]

Went to the dr. yesterday and found out that I will definitely be having total hip replacement surgery, as soon as we find out about our ins. covering it.

The bad news about it is that the Dr. will not do both hips in the same surgery. He says it's just too much surgery and that he would have to do the one hip first and then 6weeks later do the other.
Great, now I have 2 of these surgeries to look forward to. The rewards afterward is what I'm going to try and focus on to take away from my high anxiety. Just the fact of knowing that 3 mos. afterward I will be able to do any activities I want again, and all without pain, no more daily pain! That is something that motivates me to do this.

The surgery is set for the 22nd of March. I'm already rehearsing what I'm going to stress to them when I get there about the anesthesia, and also, whenever I wake up from surgery, the pain pills they will probably give me. I always get sick from pain pills, unless I take phenergan and meclizine 30 min. prior. But I'm worried that they won't do that. So, I'm going to have to make sure that they know this.

I just want to get all of this over with!!