Spinal block or GA? only 5 sleeps....eeeekkk

[kcmocook]

Hi. You will be just fine. As others have pointed out, the anticipation is far worse than the actual surgery. I had GA and the last thing I remember was being wheeled away by two nurse anesthetists and I was rambling on about Joan Rivers' newest book being the "Amazon Deal of the Day" and how I planned to download it to my Kindle when I woke.... OUT!! I woke right up and other than horrible constipation, I really had no bad after affects.

I used a walker for the first two weeks (well, I was supposed to.) I mainly used the cane I'd been walking with prior to the surgery.

Good luck!!

 

[craftdee]

It's probably all over for you now... and you're on the "other side"... if so CONGRATULATIONS!!
I wonder which way you went with your anesthetic; at my pre-op appointment I was told "they" preferred Spinal and sedation, but as I had watched a YouTube video WITH SOUND a few days before I asked if they would guarantee I wouldn't hear anything, he said I would "probably" still hear some but "probably" wouldn't remember it; the thought of hearing the machinery involved was freaking me out so badly that the anesthetist on the day actually recommended GA.
I was in pain when I woke up as there is no anesthetic in your spine, it took about five minutes to get that under control, I was up on two crutches a few hours after returning to my room as I didn't have to wait for feeling to come back to my legs, I also didn't have any tingling that you can get with a Spinal. I had problems last time I had an epidural (which is NOT the same thing, but I think it probably tainted my opinion) so I was glad not to have to worry about that too.
Modern GA are much better with regards to waking less foggy and with less nausea (I was wide awake straight away in recovery, and eating dinner with gusto an hour later) So, plenty of people have Spinal and are happy with it, I had GA and was happy with that!!
I was on two crutches for about two weeks, one crutch for about a week, a cane for about a week... and I still use that at my Physio's request when out and about; people do give you a bit more "room" if they see the cane. I had Posterior Approach, if you get to have Anterior you'll probably progress quicker than that
Look forward to seeing your Recovery thread

 

[allegra]

I had anterior approach left THR on Nov 12. My OS used spinal with sedation. I have never had surgery before so I was nervous about being awake. However, I remember sitting up for the spinal then don't remember anything after that until I woke up in recovery from the best sleep of my life. Remember I have 7 kids under 13 and haven't really had a good nights rest in 6 years. But when I woke up from the surgery I felt like I had a full nights rest - very clearheaded and comfortable, no nausea at all. It took a little while for my spinal to wear off but that was fine with me because I had lost a significant amount of blood and really wasn't able to stand without my BP plummeting until the next day. Overall, I was very happy with the spinal and sedation. I have heard people have more trouble with nausea after GA and I was glad I didn't have that problem. I HATE throwing up!!!!

 

[Cinderella]

I think this is my biggest fear reguarding my upcoming hip surgery (Dec 11). My surgeon also prefers spinal. Ive always had GA with all my previous surgeries. When I think of spinal.... I think of an epidural like women in labor get...... cant feel anything but wide awake. My surgeon assures me I wont be awake but that's my fear. I do like the idea of no nausea/vomiting after surgery with the spinal as I tend to get VERY sick after GA.