Going in for Laparoscopic hernia surgery on Monday[never had surgery before]..any advice?

[Bucephalus]

Never been under anesthesia either...What should I expect?

Thanks

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[am1978]

They’ll knock you out.

 

[Bucephalus]

They’ll knock you out.

It's the not waking up part that scars me. lol

 

[Squelch]

I've had hernia surgery once about 8 years ago - it wasn't laparoscopic though. I had pain in the area for a few days, but it wasn't bad. I actually have another hernia surgery scheduled (for the other side, this time it will be laparoscopic) in a couple of weeks.

Regarding the surgery and anesthesia in general, listen to the advice they give you about not eating or drinking. The issue is that if you have a reaction you can end up vomiting the contents of your stomach back into your breathing tube and choke because your body can't respond normally due to the anesthesia.

 

[Bucephalus]

I've had hernia surgery once about 8 years ago - it wasn't laproscopic though. I had pain in the area for a few days, but it wasn't bad. I actually have another hernia surgery scheduled (for the other side, this time it will be laproscopic) in a couple of weeks.

Regarding the surgery and anesthesia in general, listen to the advice they give you about not eating or drinking. The issue is that if you have a reaction you can end up vomiting the contents of your stomach back into your breathing tube and choke because your body can't respond normally due to the anesthesia.

Thank you. And good luck on your upcoming surgery. I had wondered why the no food or drink.

 

[am1978]

It's the not waking up part that scars me. lol

You’ll be fine. Literally thousands of surgeries happen each day, only a minuscule percent don’t wake up. That won’t be you. Knock on wood. When you wake up, get picked up in your JT and enjoy the ride home. Recover, and drive it.

 

[Bucephalus]

You’ll be fine. Literally thousands of surgeries happen each day, only a minuscule percent don’t wake up. That won’t be you. Knock on wood. When you wake up, get picked up in your JT and enjoy the ride home. Recover, and drive it.

Thank you sir

 

[bgenlvtex]

Pics of Anastasia? I'd want some pics and a good weight on her before I went under.


If they told you that you would be able to function when you leave just like when you came in (like they did me) they are lying sacks of shit. It will hurt and likely will for some time, I had 3 I never new I had them until I had an MRI. I hurt for a year.

Hydrocodone will turn your turds into rocks. They will probably give it to you, if you arent a "free shitter" take stool softeners.

 

[Bucephalus]

Pics of Anastasia? I'd want some pics and a good weight on her before I went under.


If they told you that you would be able to function when you leave just like when you came in (like they did me) they are lying sacks of shit. It will hurt and likely will for some time, I had 3 I never new I had them until I had an MRI. I hurt for a year.

Hydrocodone will turn your turds into rocks. They will probably give it to you, if you arent a "free shitter" take stool softeners.

hahaha. I would love a nice Russian nurse.

 

[Radio Guy]

I had laparoscopic hernia surgery abut 15yrs ago and it went well but I tried to get back into my daily routine the next day and it hurt really bad. You need to stay in bed for a week after and take it easy. Going under is interesting, they had me start counting after the IV was put in and I clearly remember counting up to 15 out loud then lights out. Waking up was very slow for me and I was groggy for several hours after. The lack of food along with the anesthesia and pain killers might leave you a little nauseous.

 

[am1978]

I had a different surgery in FEB, no less risky since it’s near the brain, turbinate eduction, deviated septum and a major sinus cavity drain. They knocked me out. First surgery every. It’s literally time you’ll never recover. Just Google the Pre-op instructions.

 

[spectre6000]

Woof... Well, I had a huge car wreck back in 2016. I was in an old K10, a guy in a Subaru really needed to turn left across two lanes of highway traffic, and I had the fantastic fortune to be highway traffic. Net 70mph, small (1/4-1/3) overlap. I ate the steering wheel hard, bounced back and hit the back glass, starred the windshield with my left hand (no injury at all from that), threw my right shoulder out, hit my right knee on the steel dash, etc. Bad bad bad. 27 stitches from the neck up, badly broken nose.

They missed the broken nose at the hospital. I guess all the blood and bleeding was a bit distracting. My glasses broke, and partially disappeared, and I didn't realize my nose had been broken until I finally got a replacement set and tried to wear them (the break and mis-set was right where my glasses sit). Required surgery to fix it. Strictly speaking, rhinoplasty. A nose job. Only instead of for reasons of vanity, it was so I could wear glasses, work, I had a sharp bone protrusion on the side of the bridge of my nose, and that was not OK.

The first time, they put me under. I went back to a prep room. They had me get in a hospital gown, my clothes went into a tray, they took vitals, and I waited a while. They hooked me up with an IV in a very procedural, matter of fact way like they tend to do in hospitals. Think taking blood or something. Pretty similar. At some point, they put the anesthesia into the IV. I don't completely remember that part.

Next thing I know, I'm awake. Still pretty out of it according to my wife. I don't remember specifics of this one to be honest. I got dressed, went home, and felt like shit for a week or so, but not due to the anesthesia. The surgeon said he filed off the sharp bit of bone that was sticking out, and then "straightened out a few things" deeper in my sinus cavity "two knuckles deep". So I broke my skull just under my eyes, and about two inches back. He said had I had airbags, it wouldn't have gone as deep, but I'd have fractured pretty much my entire face and still have broken my nose. Good times.

That's what it's like when it goes well. You may or may not remember falling asleep, then you're awake and it's done. Non-event. Recovering from whatever you're there for is what you need to worry about if you have anything to worry about.

Now... Stop reading here if you're feeling good about things, because here's what happens when it goes wrong. I had some excessive scarring from the above described procedure, and glasses were still uncomfortable. Over time, it got to where I couldn't wear them for more than about 10 minutes every few hours. They had to redo part of the surgery. Everything started out the same, but this time something went wrong. I ended up aspirating (inhaling into my lungs) a lot of blood somehow while I was under. I don't know how or why, and it doesn't matter. This time, instead of just waking up and going home and being a little out of it, I woke up and was very disoriented. I got really hot, and because I wasn't exactly "with it" I took off all my clothes down to my underwear. Apparently, I couldn't be stopped. I was pretty nauseous as well, and my blood pressure was really low (I nearly fainted/puked when I got out of the bed). They ran a lot of tests, held me for a long time to keep an eye on my oxygen levels, and basically I sat around being hot and uncomfortable for a while while I got back "with it". They had to send me home with an oxygen machine, and it took a while to round one up since that was definitely not the sort of thing they were expecting. Probably not the sort of thing that's even possible for a laproscopic hernia surgery. I guess the "went wrong" part specific to the anesthesia (possibly combined with hypoxia) was the disorientation, feeling really hot, and taking my clothes off. It wasn't scary or anything. The nausea sucked. It all kinda sucked.

That said, in all honesty, if you asked me the worst part without prompting with the anesthesia element, I'd have said it was dealing with the oxygen equipment company. That was insanely bad. I can't imagine having to rely on such a shitshow of a company long term if I needed oxygen more than I did. The initial service guy tried to get me to sign a contract, but his printer was out of ink and just spat out a dot matrix printer paper with some black spots on it. I told him I was absolutely not signing any such document, but he couldn't leave me without oxygen, so he did his thing and said someone would be back in some amount of time with an executable contract. No one ever came. When I was done with the machine, it took months to get them to come pick it up. I ultimately told them I was going to put it out on the corner, and they could get it or someone else could get it and hawk it on eBay, but I wasn't storing it for them any longer. Someone was there that afternoon...

 

[MrZappo]

Just had the exact same surgery. It was way worse in my head than it actually was.

Over before you know it and you will be sore for about 10 days.

Then you will be good to go.

Dont sweat it.

 

[Uparms]

Remind the intake RN an and OR Prep person and Team to wash their hands and change out all their PPE and scrubs before they do you if you are not first case of the day. I think HAI ( hospital acquired infections) is a key indicator that all hospital ( and maybe small surgi centers) are required to track and report. And there is a reason for that..........

If they give you pre-op prep advice for self home cleaning of the surg site, read it, apply it and do it. May not come on the small insertions like your but just be aware.

Follow all written post op instructions they give you. IE: Activity, site cleaning, meds and nutrition.

Leave a note for your family who is to get what deer guns out of your collection. My stepson gets the Ruger American 450, grandson gets the CVA Accura V2 Muzzleloader and grand daughter gets the H&R Ultra-slug 20 GA. (All tremendously low cost guns and all extremely accurate and reliable).

 

[Bucephalus]

Well I feel stupid. Psyched myself out silly for a week and the whole thing was a breeze. Checked in at 8:00am. Saw the anesthesiologist around 1:11pm[after going through a damn panic attack] ..answered a few questions...Said he was giving me some Xanax through the IV. Surgeon came in, said lets rock and roll.. I Kissed my girl goodbye. And that's the last thing I remember. I woke up groggy and my vision was a bit blurred. That lasted all of 5 minutes, i peed and was on the way home after 10min. I feel great, no nausea or anything. I kept saying wow, I can't believe it.

I just want to thank you gents for the advice and support. Drinks on me next time you're Miami.

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