Going4fun
Former BoneSmart staff member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2018
- Messages
- 1,015
- Age
- 62
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
Does your surgeon have a good nurse that they work with?
Have you had conversations with the surgeon or the nurse or PA about your nerves? That's a totally legitimate conversation to call up your surgeon's office about. You can let them reassure you.
It's not uncommon for people to get extremely nervous. I researched the heck out of the surgery, read way too much about various doctors and approaches ... planned things well ... went on leave at my job ... prepared friends and coworkers ... was looking forward to getting through it ... and then ... I think I remember the Thursday before my surgery scheduled for the following Wednesday ... and bang, I was hit by the terror.
It so happened that my surgeon's staffer called me that afternoon. She was mainly giving me last-minute instructions ... But I was sharp enough to go ahead and tell her that I was getting scared. OMG, this staffer (not my surgeon's chief nurse, not my surgeon) this staffer ... was amazing in reassuring me. She talked about how great my surgeon was ... and just something about her tone was comforting ...
It was like her voice, the voice of someone who sounded about 30 years younger than me, brought me back into the world of the surgery, the plans, the arrival, the concrete next steps ... Her words pulled me out of the dreamy, disconnected world of my fears, fears which seemed be floating all around me, pressing against my chest and seemingly filling the air of every breath I was taking.
I remember getting off the phone and just being in a different place. Still with some fear of course, but not with the runaway fear that just paralyzes me.
Well hang in there. Fear is normal. If you've got terror, see if you can call your surgeon and get some reassurance. Also, do you have friends or family you can talk to about this?
Have you had conversations with the surgeon or the nurse or PA about your nerves? That's a totally legitimate conversation to call up your surgeon's office about. You can let them reassure you.
It's not uncommon for people to get extremely nervous. I researched the heck out of the surgery, read way too much about various doctors and approaches ... planned things well ... went on leave at my job ... prepared friends and coworkers ... was looking forward to getting through it ... and then ... I think I remember the Thursday before my surgery scheduled for the following Wednesday ... and bang, I was hit by the terror.
It so happened that my surgeon's staffer called me that afternoon. She was mainly giving me last-minute instructions ... But I was sharp enough to go ahead and tell her that I was getting scared. OMG, this staffer (not my surgeon's chief nurse, not my surgeon) this staffer ... was amazing in reassuring me. She talked about how great my surgeon was ... and just something about her tone was comforting ...
It was like her voice, the voice of someone who sounded about 30 years younger than me, brought me back into the world of the surgery, the plans, the arrival, the concrete next steps ... Her words pulled me out of the dreamy, disconnected world of my fears, fears which seemed be floating all around me, pressing against my chest and seemingly filling the air of every breath I was taking.
I remember getting off the phone and just being in a different place. Still with some fear of course, but not with the runaway fear that just paralyzes me.
Well hang in there. Fear is normal. If you've got terror, see if you can call your surgeon and get some reassurance. Also, do you have friends or family you can talk to about this?
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