When faced with having surgery it can feel very scary and you may feel quite nervous.
This is normal. Even people who have had surgery many times will still feel some nerves before an operation, whether minor or major.
When you’re worried about something it is common to have a lot of questions running through your head, such as:
• Will it hurt a lot?
• What will they find?
• What won’t they find?
• What will happen?
• What if something goes wrong?
Firstly what you have to remember is that it is rare for things to go wrong. You will be in the hands of professionals who do what they’re doing to you everyday.
There are different people in charge of looking after different things. For example, the anaesthetist makes sure you are given exactly the right amount of anaesthetic and that you stay in the same state throughout the operation. They have allsorts of technology on hand to know exactly how you are. They also decide what pain relief you should be given after your operation.
If you are in any pain or discomfort after an operation and tell the nurse(s) they will make sure you are given pain relief. You won’t be left with the pain to cope with; they can always help you feel more comfortable and relaxed.
You will usually have a pre-op appointment about 2 weeks before surgery. This is a chance for a nurse to go through your medical history with you, tell you about the procedure you will be having and answer any questions you have. They will take your blood pressure and do a blood test and measure your weight and height. You may also be given an x-ray, ECG (heart check), see your anaesthetist or anything else they think they should do to check your general health before having an operation.
You will meet your surgeon and anaesthetist before your operation, you can ask them questions and they can tell you exactly what is going to happen to you.
If the surgery you are having is a laparoscopy, you can ask to have a video of the procedure. Some people like to have this so that they can really understand what is going on inside their own body. If you do want a copy then you must let them know before your operation, you may be asked to bring a blank video tape to hospital with you so that they can make a copy for you to take home.
Of course you don’t have to have one if you are a bit squeamish!
When you go to hospital to have an operation you will have been told not to eat or drink beyond a certain time before you are admitted to hospital. (This is to do with being given anaesthetics and making sure you are safe during the operation). You will be asked to take your own clothes, jewellery and things like glasses off and to put on a hospital gown. A Canula will be put into your hand, this looks a bit like an empty ink-cartridge attached to a needle. You can have some special numbing cream put onto your hand about 30 minutes before this is inserted so that you can’t feel it.
Then a person called a porter will take you down to theatre on a bed.
They will wheel you into a room with other beds in and you will be transferred onto a smaller bed. There will be staff around you to make sure you are OK and talk to you if you are nervous.
When you’ve got onto the second bed this will be wheeled through to the room where you are given the anaesthetic. The team of people performing the operation and looking after you during it will be here. They will all be wearing special clothing, plastic gloves and probably have masks over their faces. This is to make sure that everything is clean and protected against germs and infections and to protect their own clothing.
The anaesthetist will inject the anaesthetic into the canula in your hand. After a few seconds you will loose consciousness.
When you wake up you will be in a recovery room. You might have a drip attached to the canula, a heart monitor (don’t panic, this is just so they can check if the rhythm changes, it doesn’t mean you’re in a serious condition) and you will probably have an oxygen mask on which you may or may not have to wear for a few hours.
A nurse will talk to you when you wake up and see if you are comfortable or in pain. Once they are happy that you have come round properly you will be taken back to the ward you will be staying on and here you can rest.
Your surgeon will also come and see you after your operation to tell you how it went and what they found during it. You will also be given a date for a post-op appointment within the following weeks so that you can discuss what happened during your surgery again and ask any questions, they will also ask how you are since having the surgery and will probably want to look at the scar(s) on your tummy to see how they are healing.