Anxiety Before the Surgery

[Bertybert1980]

So I am 4 days away from my surgery.  I have extreme anxiety.  To the point where my chest feels like its tight or about to explode lol. It actually hurts.  I have to like breath into a bag or take a Xanax to calm myself down.  Did anyone else go through this as well.  And will the Anesthesiologist reject me if my anxiety is too high or will he/she just gimme that cocktail everyone speaks of. 

I also stopped smoking for 5 weeks now feels great but I heard a symptom of stopping is chest pains can this affect me?

[Tonyp1]

My anxiety mostly came post op.  It was a week of hell on earth, no sleep for days.  They told me I could take Xanax the night before the surgery, but non the day of.  Just push on through, a month from now you'll feel like a million bucks!  If you tell them you're having a panic attack, they'll probably just tell you you'll  be asleep in a couple of minutes and it will all be over.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Some anxiety prior to surgery is normal -- heck this is not something you do every day. In fact, if one of my patients came in without any type of anxiety, then I would be anxious.

The important thing is that you have confidence in your surgeon because he is not a stranger to this type of surgery.

For you, do not allow the anxiety to become overwhelming -- that is not a good recipe.

Dr Jacobs

[hammer]

The doctor is right, it wouldn't be normal not to have some anxiety.

Remember that you are going into a very controlled area, a roomed filled with well trained professinional people that exercise their skills everyday, and care about what they do!

Of course there always are dangers in any surgeries, but there are dangers in everything we do everyday. You put yourself in harms way everytime you cross the street, drive a car, use a ladder, buy pre-prepared food, look at the driver in The car next to you,  ect.........

Good luck, let us know how everything works out, we are here waiting to see the results!


Bob