Dr.Akbarnia has decided to do it all in one surgery!

[trulyaries]

I'm scheduled for my third surgery on May 14, by the same doctor who is performing Azalea's surgery.

Regarding how you look after surgery, my family wasn't prepared either. Before my first surgery, I didn't see that mentioned anywhere, and no doctor/nurse mentioned it would happen, or I would have warned them. When they described it to me weeks later, I couldn't stop laughing. I was very swollen, had tiny water blisters (?) all over my face, and one eye kept wandering all over the place. I made them promise that this time they will give me a mirror so I can see for myself (with my one stable eye, of course!). Please no one take offense, we have an irreverent sense of humor in my family ...

[Littleone1016]

Brynn,

We were wondering what happen to you at the support group meetings! I'm so glad that Dr. Akbarnia has worked out well for you. I hope that you are doing well and come back and see us soon.

Also, to everyone else who's having surgery good luck!!

[brynnski]

Hi Everyone,

It's now less than a month before my surgery (May 15.) Last week I was kind of a wreck but this weekend my silly mind did a wonderful shift and now I'm not scared. I am very aware that the pre-surgery roller coaster is real, and I wonder if I'll remain as I am right now. I can't really pin down what caused the shift. I think I just got tired of being so full of anxiety about the future. At any case, feeling positive, as I do right now, is a real blessing. Now I know I can do it.

I spoke with one of Dr. Akbarnia's associates on Monday and asked him why they are so positive about doing my two procedures together instead of in two stages, since he had expressed concerns when he first met with me. He said that they've been trying this lately and have been happy with the results. He went on to say that they keep discovering new techniques that enable them to do more in less time. And lately they are finding that they often don't have to do as many levels as they thought they needed to do to get a good result. When I asked him about the possibility of Dr. Akbarnia needing to harvest bone from my iliac crest, his associate said that they haven't done this in about 9 months. They've been having excellent results from BMP graphs. These will apparently be the wave of the future.

I'm also seeing a medical hypnotherapist who is helping me greatly. Every day I listen to CDs she has made for me and she puts me in a trance state during our weekly sessions. These techniques help me focus on the positive outcomes of my surgery. They focus on increasing my ability to stay calm during the surgery, even helping me to be able to reduce blood loss and keep my vital signs stable. This is not some kind of flaky stuff. There are many scientific studies that show these results to be common when hypnosis is used before and during surgery. I'm currently trying to find out if there is an anesthesiologist on staff at my hospital who is schooled in medical hypnotherapy. A number of them are these days. I have two friends who have had surgery with anesthesiologists who used hypnotherapy as a tool during their procedures. Their surgeries went extremely well. Dr. Akbarnia has agreed to give me suggestions during surgery that my hypnotherapist has printed out for me. He even told me that if I'd bring CDs with me he'd play them, even 12 hours worth! What a guy!

Brynn