[DianneW]

#1072605

Hi, Tc75,

I’ve gone under over 30-some times, so I guess I’m one who can answer that question.

Before you go under you’re given an IV with a pretty big needle, and that’s the worst part. Most of the time you will be given a numbing shot before they put that big needle in; and if so, you won’t feel that much. The trouble is that the numbing shot stings quite a bit. But they give that with a very tiny needle, so it’s only the burning from the medicine that you feel, not the shot itself. And once the IV is in, you’re given some relaxation medicine, and then you won’t care about anything.

Most of the time you’ll be wheeled right into the O.R. and they’ll let you scoot yourself from the stretcher right onto the operating table, where you can get comfortable and they’ll put some wires on you to monitor your heart and blood pressure. They might put some cuffs on your legs to keep you from getting clots in your legs. They’ll wrap you in warm blankets and put a nice wedge under your neck so that your body is comfortable. Then before you know it, you will be told that you’re being given some medicine that will make you go bye-bye, and it works very quickly. You won’t remember anything until after the surgery is over.

That medicine isn’t the general anesthesia. That’s given through a tube in your throat, but that’s not something you’ll ever have a memory of.

The next thing you’ll remember is waking up in the recovery room. Usually, any pain is very mild and manageable. Occasionally I’ve had severe pain. There is almost always someone right there, and often your family member is there too, since most of the time you have been somewhat awake previous to this and just haven’t known it.

What is it you fear about being put under?

[tc75]

#1072606

My fear is both losing control of myself, and also being in the hands of a medical team without me being there to make crutial decisions! (If any came up)… I had the same phobia for airplanes. I was terrified thinking that I was putting my life in the hands of a huge machine… any millions of things could go wrong. That’s just life. Unpredictable.

The only thing that terrifies me more than something going wrong in surgery, is becoming blind from the procedure. ( I was told it was a risk… small, but still a risk)
I can’t imagine not being able to see my baby boys grow up. My absolute favorite thing is just watching them!! I haven’t been overly ambitious in life, or incredibly good at one thing, but being a mother I am actually pretty good at. And proud.
I love being a stay at home mom, and wouldnt want it anyother way. If I could, i’d have 30 kids… This disease has been my only set back. (aside from money… 30 kids would be expensive..lol)
I know I have to get this surgery done. I have greater risk of becoming blind from nerve damage without the surgery…. Rock and a hard place??
I am very thankful that there is a resource like this web site.

[tc75]

#1019574

Thank you to those who responded to my eye surgery post.
If anyone has any other info they would be willing to share I would appreciate it. SO MUCH!
Even if its just about general anaesthetic. I know it is totally off topic, but I am going in on the 15 of April for the eye surgery and have had a huge phobia of being put under. Even with my first baby when I had ‘complications’ and needed two surgeries, two blood transfusions.. I refused to let them put me under. I had three spinals instead.
Thank you again
TC

[DianneW]

#1072607

When I had young kids I was just the way you are. I had unreasonable fears about anything that might take me away from them. I couldn’t take even short trips without suffering horribly from that fear. Fortunately, my surgeries were after they were old enough that I knew they would be okay if I died. I’m like you—would have had a zillion kids if circumstances had permitted it.

Just keep in mind that the anesthesiologist is there specifically to watch over your vital functions and to make sure you remain alive. Everything else that happens during the surgery takes a back seat to that, because if for no other reason your anesthesiologist is not about to have a death on his/her record. You WILL be taken care of. He or she is a fully qualified doctor, and is the one to talk to about any of your concerns of this nature before you go under. Be sure to have an honest discussion about your feelings and the reasons for them, and if for any reason you don’t feel good about the person in whose hands you are trusting your life, don’t hesitate to ask for someone else (someone more empathetic).

I almost always have had a phone call from the anesthesiologist the day before surgery, so be ready to discuss any concerns then, in case you do too.

Perhaps it would help ease some of your fears to make sure that you have all loose ends tied up just in case you didn’t make it through the surgery. After all, no one has any guarantee of making it though another day anyway, so when one has children it’s not a bad idea anyway to have arrangements made in case something should happen to oneself. That is, make certain that they would be raised by the person/s you would want to have raising them and that your will was in order. Perhaps that would help you feel more secure? We can’t control everything, but in this case you would be making every choice that’s in your power to make under the circumstances. Also, you can sign a power of attorney for health care to someone you trust and discuss in detail what you’d want done if you aren’t in the condition to make your own decisions.

When I fly on airplanes now I simply don’t allow myself to think of what might happen. I have some good techniques for doing this. If I allow my mind to start in on all the airplane noises, I can create a disaster movie of gigantic proportions. It’s much better not to let those thoughts get started.

I hope you get a little help from what has helped me, but I realize we’re all different and you may have to find your own methods. Best wishes to you.

[Marpo]

#1072608

You are not alone here. I get real bad panic attacks before any surgery. This was before I had Graves’ or TED. I have had 5 eye surgeries. No where near Dianne’s number. I did what she advised you to do. I wrote my will and a letter to my husband children and grandchildren. It seems a bit much, but it made me feel more in control.

I had decompression on both eye’s and was put to sleep for it. I don’t remember anything about it. I don’t even remember going home. I had the surgery in the morning and was home be evening. For my upper and lower eye lid retraction’s they said I would be awake for part of it . They would need to wake me up so I could move my eye’s. I was really in a panic over that. As it turned out everything went pretty smooth. They did wake me up but everything was foggy. They told me to look side to side and I felt a little pull. Like when you rub your eye. Also felt like I had a little something like dust in my eye or sand. No pain. I stayed awake , went to recovery for a short while and went home.

They pain was not very bad. I did have some nice black eye’s and swelling each time. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. I did have real good doctor’s that have a sense of humor and are easy to talk to. That helps. Good luck with your eye surgery. You will feel better after.

[Rose_Dire]

#1072609

I am planning to have surgery for my upper lids that have retracted since I developed Graves disease. I have had my thyroid removed two years ago. In this time my eyes have not changed at all. The one eye is much worse then the other since it also has a greater lower lid retraction. For this the doctor suggested that he would take some skin from the inside of my mouth and put it on the inside of my lower lid to bring it up.

At the same time, I was considering removing the puffy area below the lower lid since it is was caused by the displacement of the fatty tissue behind the eye.

I was hoping to get some input on what others could share on this subject. This would be extremely helpfull since doctors often do not take the time to give you all the information that is involved in such a surgery such as the risk, the odds of a successful result, etc.

They seem to be like lawyers in that respect, —they get paid regardless of the outcome.

Any help, or input would be appreciated.

[lakeview]

#1072610

A question… can you have any of these eye surgeries under local anathesia? Or is general the only way to go?

[Rose_Dire]

#1072611

I don’t know if I have a choice. My appt with the eye surgeon is tomorrow. Is there any other aspects of the surgery that I should inquire about?

[azroses2322]

#1072612

Hi, Ladies, I don’t know if my experience helps but I throw it out there in case any of this helps. The only surgery I had where it was totally general (I was totally out was the strabismus one — which is eye muscle surgery) and I was glad that was total after reading a bad experience someone had where the doctor claimed the failure was because th patient moved. I doubt that the extent of that surgery would permit local very easily. Anyway all of my lid surgeries (5 of have been mostly under local). Basically they knock you out for about 5 minutes while they numb the lid then you are awake and under local. Actually I was wrapped in what the nurse called a burritto. My arms at my side and the blankets snug around me. They put a cornea protector over your eye (at least the one they are working on when it is not both) so you see a fog and can hear. I have had both uppers lowered, then the rt lower raised, then the left lower raised, then a 2nd attempt at raising the rt. lower, then an adjustment to reform the rt upper. All of my surgeries were covered by insurance because I could not close my eyes and it was a health risk. The last one last Mon. to adjust the rt upper lid was also covered because when it was lowered it sagged down and was obstructing my vision. The raising of the lower lids was done by using paracardium cadeavar implants to rebuild the struts of the lower lid — there is no muscle left from the disease. An alternative was to use ear cartilidge but even though it is stronger, it is thicker and can make the lower lid too thick when looking down — so my Othorplastic eye surgeon says he had better results with the paracardium and he stuck with it even on the 2nd try on the rt. eye. So far they are holding. When they do these surgeries, he says they adjust conservatively so that they do not over correct and cause more problems. The upper surgeries were done by an incision along the outer upper lid in the crevice where the top lid tucks under the brow — In that incision they can adjust the levelator muscle. The upper lids are so critical to cover you eyeballs because there are tear producing glands under them that work with the tear producers on the surface of the eyeball to create the eco-system for your eyes. Your bottom lids are critical because they form the resavoir to cup the moisture so that when you blink you can bathe your eyes. If the bottom lids droop then the moisture runs down your face and your eyes may not close. This is mostly lay terms from my experience. If you are concerned about your doctors approach or your insurance coverage of his approach maybe you want to get a second opinion. If I were you I would call the insurace to find out why they are not covering it. It may be another method they will cover.

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