THR THR about 10 days away & so very anxious

[PolarIce]

Hi all. My name says it all. I'm totally panicked about my hip replacement surgery which is just about 10 days away. I suffer from anxiety disorder, so this is just ramping up my nervousness. I don't know how to stop thinking of them cutting into me and me not knowing what is going on. I also am worried about how much pain I will be in afterwards and whether I can handle it. I can't sleep thinking of the surgery and spend my day crying and wish I never had to do this. Can anyone please help me get these anxious thoughts and worries off my mind? Does anyone out there suffer with anxiety/panic attacks? I do take medication for this but I still have alot of anxiety. I have Xanax for emergencies, but I don't want to take too much of it and get addicted to it. Can anyone please help? I am really scared of this surgery. Thank you for your time.

Your worries are totally normal. I think most of us even with the knowledge we have, had a degree of anxiety. Surgery is surgery.
I find if you keep yourself busy during the day, it will give you less time to worry or stress about it. A lot of those things are out of your control(and 99% not even anything to be concerned about). Staying busy will allow you to focus your energy one preparing last minute details, and not allowing your mind wonder to places that will give you more anxiety.
The pain is different from person to person. I also was worried about that aspect of the surgery, and had absolutely none coming out of the O.R. Even a few days later. I had some muscular pain, but nothing in regards to the surgery itself(not even the incision). When a patient gets to the point where surgery is needed, the pain you are suffering from now actually(in most cases) far worst than anything you will undergo during your recovery.
Stay busy and focus on getting your home and life organized for the recovery. The most you do this, the less able your brain is to go wonder in places that really won’t aid you feel ready for this. You’ve got this, and when it’s done you will realize how smooth things went. Happy anniversary on your day 1 of recovery on surgery day!

 

[ladyj]

The main problem I had when I had my first TKR was embarrassment about what I might have said.
I had the epidural and spinal block plus lots of morphine.
I have no idea what I said, but most of it was utter rubbish.
Now I have to have a THR and a PKR I know I will do it all over again!

 

[Layla]

Best Wishes for your surgery tomorrow! I hope it's still scheduled for tomorrow.
Please join us on the Hip Recovery forum once you're resting comfortably at home.
We'll have some Recovery Guidelines to share with you and lots of support to offer as you're healing.
@Panicgirl63