I had my pre op!

This week I had my pre op assessment for my upcoming surgery. Pre ops are for when you’re having a general anaesthetic. You have a hospital appointment with a nurse to check if you’re fit enough for surgery.

They check your height, weight and blood pressure, take blood. Then they either take swabs to check for MRSA if you have your surgery date soon or send you home with a swab kit for you to do the week before surgery. It is an assessment to check whether you’re fit to have a general anaesthetic.

Its also an opportunity to discuss the surgery and any concerns you might have. As I’ve mentioned before my biggest fear at the minute is that I won’t receive proper pain relief after the surgery as this has happened to me twice before in this hospital.

After a big op like the one I’m having, I tend to have an epidural in place that delivers pain relief for the first few days after surgery. When this is taken down it can be a big shock to the system and good regular pain relief is a must.

My worries

Unfortunately twice now I have been left in agony due to the ward nurses not giving me appropriate drugs on time. Now I’m terrified it will happen again. So much so that I almost don’t want to have the surgery at all.

But I got time to speak to the nurse this week and share my fears. She told me that it was unacceptable that this had happened and that if it happened again, to immediately ask to see the matron who would sort it out and be majorly pissed off at nurses not doing their jobs.

As I’ve said so many times, I have huge respect for nurses and the vast majority are bloody wonderful! But there are some shockers.

Mind/Body connection

In a book I read this week (healing from the inside out, Nauman Naeem) it talks about how ‘good patients’ as in those who don’t speak up, press the buzzer, complain when needed are at much higher risk of complications and that rather than being a patient we should be a respant – a responsible participant.

The nurse also has arranged for the accute pain team to see me ASAP after surgery and has made notes for the anaesthetist to let them know how nervous I am and my past experience. She said they will be able to write me up for decent pain relief before they even consider taking the epidural down.

She has reiterated just how complex this surgery is going to be, around 7 hours in theatre and a high risk of complications. They have booked me into the post operative surgery unit (POSU) for straight after where they’ll keep a closer eye on me and if I need to be transferred to the High Dependency Unit they can do that quicker and more easily.

Feeling scared

I will need to be in hospital for at least 10 days and recovery will be 2-3 months.

They will be repairing the huge parastomal hernia, it’s a massive opening about 15cm and the incisional hernia on the other side and moving my stoma again. I have adhesions everywhere and so these may cause problems.

Its fair to say that I’m terrified.

Im trying very hard to stay positive, I have a new mantra (again from reading the book above) that I tell myself every day to fight against the feelings that everything is so tough right now and I hope that having more open and positive thoughts will aid in my healing.

“I am open and welcoming to healing, strength, love, joy and happiness”

✌?& ❤️

Sam xx