Two days to go; lot's of anxiety. Is this pretty normal?

[mike dab]

I'm looking forward to getting this over with, but my brain is going 100 miles an hour.

Would love to get some feedback on how you felt right up to the moment they wheel you down the hall.

 

[Duffey]

I'm looking forward to getting this over with, but my brain is going 100 miles an hour.

Would love to get some feedback on how you felt right up to the moment they wheel you down the hall.

Pretty darned scared!
Looking back, the fear and nervous anticipation were much worse than the surgery and recovery. I hope you're coping better than I did.:smile2:

 

[dg_moore]

In the weeks leading up to surgery (before it was scheduled) I had occasional moments of worry, but was never actually in fear. On the day of surgery I was actually pretty calm. When my cardiologist originally said "it's time," which turned out to be one week before my surgery, I remember thinking that I would be feeling terrified before long, but that never happened.

 

[big_L]

I found the waiting and buildup to surgery to be quite stressful. Relaxation techniques helped to some degree. It's so easy to think about all the things that MIGHT happen and your mind can just get away from you. It drove my wife crazy that I could just lay down and go to sleep at 10 pm. But then I'd wake at 2-3 am and good luck getting any more sleep at that point.

Yes - I would agree that once I got to the hospital for the surgery, I did relax to some. Not much you can do now - I'm in their hands.

 

[ski girl]

I was excited before my first op, until I reported to hospital which I had to do the day before at 2pm. There were SICK people there! I relocated myself to the family members lounge, then around 8pm announced that I was going home (I was going to walk 3km up a hill in the dark).

Eventually they got me into my room where I dissolved into a mass of tears and snot and wails of I DON'T WANT TO BE CUT OPEN!

And I'm the least anxious person you will ever meet. I have a good laugh at how freaked out I was now, but rest assured its quite normal!

 

[Protimenow]

I went in the night before surgery. I had to shower with some kind of powerful disinfectant soap, getting my chest as clean as possible. I don't think that I was all that worried. I was looking forward to being stronger and feeling stronger, and probably being a better dad for my 11 and 13 year old daughter and son.
The day before I went to the hospital, I took my kids to the Drive-In Theater (they still had them back then), and did my loud (really loud) sounds (a bark and a 'dork') as a benchmark to see how far the sound traveled (or how loud it was when it bounced back off the screen. It was a release for me, and a tension release for my kids, and another demonstration that my lung capacity was good, even if my aortic capacity wasn't all that great.

I can't give any great advice. If you've got kids, have some fun with them -- not with the idea that you WON'T be back, but with the knowledge that you'll soon be with them, even better than before. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. There's no point to stressing out. You've got confidence in your surgeon, and the team that the surgeon has built is very experienced in this type of surgery -- prep, surgery, recovery.

Although something this major and life changing can be scary -- relax, enjoy the new experience - it's something that not many people can go through.

You will be fine.

 

[knotguilty]

I was very scared. But I made peace with my maker and was comfortable with what He had planned for me. I went in knowing that they rarely, rarely, loose anyone for this type of surgery. Once you get on the bed, they will make you comfortable, if they don't ask for something. Good luck and fast recovery. God speed!

 

[AZ Don]

Would love to get some feedback on how you felt right up to the moment they wheel you down the hall.

Pretty relaxed. I'd done all I can and was pursuing the best option available. As bad as OHS sounds, the prognosis is excellent. You will be up and walking the next day.

 

[clawie1]

I have to chime in and agree with ski girl. I was pretty calm for two days until the evening before my surgery - it hit me, I was going to have major surgery (1st time), and I cried and told my family I wanted to run away. These are the times it is important to have family, friends, spouses, significant others around you. Once I was out of ICU, I was so thankful it was behind me and in retrospect, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Completely normal to experience what you are feeling, but know you have a whole lot of support from all of us. Nita

 

[Debbrn]

My reactions have varied before all my surgeries. My first 2 were when I was a child. I was 25 when I had my third surgery. When I found out that I needed my third surgery I had all the emotions possible. By the time the surgery came around I was a complete peace. I went to surgery with a smile on my face. Before my 4th surgery when I was 44 i was glad that they had finally decided to replace my valve again because I was tired all the time. i was a little nervous because i knew my lungs were not in as good a shape as before. I was ok though until I woke up 3 days before surgery when I started my pre-op testing. The MRI was bad. Being flat on my back for over an hour with breath holds for the test was miserable. I was in tears by the time the test was over. I was almost ready for that jello shot my co-workers tried to give me after my last day of work before surgery. I don't drink much at all. The day of surgery wasn't to bad. I tried to keep myself occupied with the tasks of getting ready. I had butterflies, but they were tolerable because I was first case and did not have much time to think about it.

Debbie

 

[pellicle]

I'm looking forward to getting this over with, but my brain is going 100 miles an hour.

Would love to get some feedback on how you felt right up to the moment they wheel you down the hall.

pretty normal. As some here, I've had 3 surgeries. With my last one I was more anxious that my wife would be more worried. I wasn't really anxious, perhaps I'm stupid in not thinking of the possibilities? Well I had prepared a will "in case" but didn't expect to use it. Sort of like taking an umbrella to prevent rain ;-)

 

[Agian]

I was really miserable after my MRI. They shaved my chest for the ECG leads, which really got to me, for some reason.

Sorry, I know MRI in no way compares to OHS, but people have commented on this, so I thought I might add my thoughts.

 

[Jimjam]

Two days to go; lot's of anxiety. Is this pretty normal?

It's a big deal, you have every right to feel
Anxious and it's completely normal. I like everyone on this forum and you had the same if
Not very similar emotions.
You're not alone, reach out to people - your family, people here and remember you have a job to do, and that is to get better and you will.
You're in good hands
Good luck
James

1 year BAVR and ascending aorta replacement

 

[mike dab]

Wow, I am so thankful for all of the great feedback. Reading the "Going for Heart Surgery" booklet with my coffee this morning and I feel better today. Like some of you have said, it's a "let's get this done and feel better" state of mind right now. Will keep you posted!

 

[epstns]

I was on the "calm" end of the scale. Of course, I spent over 9 years in The Waiting Room, so I had lots of time to accept what was to be. My approach was to put all of the energy and anxiety into developing my plan for surgery and post-op recovery. Then all I had to do was to "work" the plan. I had my schedule plotted onto a calendar, showing all of the tests, doctor visits and other milestones, right up until (and inlcluding) reporting to the hospital the morning of my surgery. Once I had my plan on paper, I could let it go. I didn't have to worry about whether I could remember all my meds, appointments or test results. I had it worked out. All of the decisions were made. I had chosen my hospital, my surgeon, my cardiologist, which valve I preferred, what surgical procedure would be my choice -- it was all decided. All I had to do was to get onto the train and ride it out. I went to the hospital and through the pre-op process with hardly a quiver. Calm, almost surrealistically so.

So, my advice to you is to prepare your plan, then just work the plan and stop worrying about everything. Once the decisions are made, there really isn't anything you can do anymore to affect the outcome, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[Rachel]

The worst part for me was when I discovered that I had an aortic aneurysm of 5.2cm (I also discovered at the same time that I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve).

I was terrified that I had a ticking time bomb (aka - the aneurysm) inside me – the valve was of no concern of mine.

So I really wanted surgery – looked forward to it because I knew that I probably didn’t have much time left otherwise.

Entering into surgery I was more concerned about my family than I was about myself – its got to be so hard to wait and not know the outcome. As for me….I was out and don’t remember a thing!

You’ll be fine!

 

[UWMike]

My feelings could have been summed up with the phrase "Que sera, sera"... but maybe that's because I was a young single guy with no baggage to speak of (no kids, and the only people I owed money to were my parents )

Either way, I remember meeting briefly with an anesthesiologist about a week or two before the surgery and he told me he'd order some kind of medication to, in his words, "take the edge off" in the moments before being wheeled in. Then the day of the surgery, that medication was not forthcoming (seemed he'd either forgotten about it, or he was really really stealthy when administering it). When I brought it up, they offered to delay a while to get it to me but by that point I said 'screw it' and that's one of the last things I remember before waking up in ICU.

 

[haggis basher]

Hi mike dab
Good luck on your operation. I had to wait 6 months for mine, not knowing when i was going in! I finally got 2
days notice! In a way, it is like flying, one hands one's life over to the pilot/surgeon. I can't believe I was so calm, but after the 6 months wait...

 

[dwhist]

I had gotten a few xanax from doc a week before surgery and they helped. But I also got in my mind that this had to be done and once I woke up from surgery, I would only improve and feel better as time went on. As some say "over the hill".

The other thing I started concentrating on was a neighborhood block party that was one week from the day of my surgery. I put my mind on it and how I was going to be there and all would be good by then. And it was.

 

[Shellbell]

Hi mike dab
Good luck on your operation. I had to wait 6 months for mine, not knowing when i was going in! I finally got 2
days notice! In a way, it is like flying, one hands one's life over to the pilot/surgeon. I can't believe I was so calm, but after the 6 months wait...

This reminds me of kinda how i am feeling 5 days out from surgery, it reminds me of how i feel at the airport waiting to board a flight, i dont love flying and i get this jittery tummy, sweaty palms and feel like barfing, i kinda feel that way a bit now. I was trying to remember the other times i felt like this and ur post reminded me. I hope that closer to Tuesday i get the calm effect happening. Or Lorazepam