Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Scared To Death

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Scared To Death

    I don't know what to do with myself. I am so upset about having surgery.
    I can hardly sleep at night ever since I got my surgery date. The thought of having my body opened up scares me. I'm having posterior and anterior done. I am not looking forward to the chest tube.
    Also, I am worried about pain medications. I have never been addicted to any sort of drugs- prescription or recreational, but I'm paranoid about getting hooked on pain meds. Does anyone have any experience with these things?

  • #2
    I think thoughts like this go through most anyone's minds when facing surgery. I tried to look to the positives like the fact that this surgery was going to help me in the long run and I used a lot of humor when people would ask about it...like telling them how exicted I was that I would be taller afterwards! I also watched a lot of surgeries on tv and even watched one involving the same surgery I was going to have....it really helped me because I had never even been in a hospital before except to visit other people. My hospital offered a relaxation course which I took as well....that really helped me in the weeks leading up to the surgery and even somewhat following the surgery.

    The night before and the morning of the surgery were tough...I couldn't get in that prep room and put under fast enough! Luckily, I had talked it over with my surgeon ahead of time and told him that I was really nervous about how I would feel the morning of and asked him to get me under asap! He did just that...about 15 mins. in the prep room and I was out like a light! The best thing for me was asking any and all questions that were running through my mind...even if it was via a phone call to my surgeon.

    I also had both posterior and anterior surgeries. The chest tube, you don't even know it's there until they take it out and that goes really quickly. It feels a bit strange as it's being removed, but doesn't hurt. As for pain meds...I was also not looking forward to taking them and made a very conscious effort to not take them any longer than I needed to. Two weeks after my surgery, I was taking Tylenol to supplement the Hydrocodone and at about 8 weeks, was off the Hydrocodone alltogether.

    Hope this helps some!

    Comment


    • #3
      Be Encouraged..

      Hi there - I had my surgery 21 years ago (I was 16) - It was scary! I remember everything about that day - Being scared is normal - My life after about 6 months was pretty much back to "normal" - But my biggest advise would be to focus on the things you can do - not the things you can't - and the next thing would be to always eat healthy and stay fit!
      I hope this helps & If I can be of further help, let me know..

      Comment


      • #4
        Hello

        I know how you feel, this may sound silly but it helped carm me down and it also helped me sleep i started Meditating just for 5mins before i go to sleep on a night. It really did help
        Good luck and keep on smiling

        Comment


        • #5
          Thank you both so much. Positive responses like yours really help me.

          Comment


          • #6
            I am getting closer to having surgery myself - and my anxiety level is shooting thorugh the roof. My Dr. also recommended meditating, and mentioned two books to me: "Full Catastrophe Living" and "Wherever You Go, There You Are" It has helped me gain perspective and de-stress mysef.
            Meg is Spinewhine
            31 years old with thoracic curve
            Wore Boston brace as teenager, but curve continued to progress.
            Surgery on 12/13/2005 with correction from over 55 degrees to under 25 degrees. (Ya baby!)

            The nitty gritty at:
            http://spinewhine.blogspot.com/

            Comment


            • #7
              You know, my surgery is in three days, and I'm scared crapless... I tried to write in my blog today, and my words came out choppy and forced... I know how you feel, and I know what you must be going through... I find myself stressing about the tiniest things... I threw a major fit the other day, because the porch door had been left open, and I was convinced that nobody'd think to close it while I'm away... I find that I"m stressing about basically anything that can be stressed about... It's even worse because I'm in school, and I have four final exams this week. (two of them on Thursday)...
              I'm sorry you feel the way you do... I'm sorry you can't sleep (I can't either), I've been reading a heck of a lot more, and watching tons of movies.... anything to take my mind off the surgery... you can check out my blog.. I'll update it, and try to give an accurate account of what it was like... again, just try to stay calm, and know that we're here for you...
              27 Years Old
              Pre Surgery: 76 and 68 degrees
              Post Surgery: 15 degrees
              www.bentoutofshape.blogspot.com

              Comment


              • #8
                Hi PKScott,

                My heart goes out to you. I can empathsize. Luckily, I was called on a Thursday, asked if I could come the next morning for pre-op and if I was willing to have my surgery on Monday due to a cancellation. I said, "yes"! I didn't have but a few days to be scared...and scared I was. At that point, I had not donated any blood and there was no time to do so. I totally had to trust God to be with me and keep me safe.

                Just focus on the good things. The faster you get this over with the sooner you will have this all behind you. I remember waking up and being so excited that it was all over. You hang in there and remember that these spine surgeons(make sure you have researched and know that the surgeon has had plenty of experience) do these types of surgeries every day...for them...it's just another day at the office...it's as easy for them as it is for us to brush our teeth.

                Kindest Regards,
                Gail

                Comment

                Working...
                X