Fear Setting in...

I will be having an RNY on June 6th and up until now I have felt comfortable with my decision and I'm ready for it. However today the doctor office called to go over all my pre-surgery testing dates (Endoscope, Gallbladder Ultrasound etc) and I'm experiencing a sudden rush of fear over having the surgery. I'm taking a deep breath and telling myself that it's normal to experience some anxiety over surgery. I would appreciate any advice on dealing with fear before the surgery. 

Surgery is scary as hell.  My RNY was the first time I had ever had surgery, and I was 42 years old.  it is perfectly normal to be afraid.  Just breathe and don't panic.  The statistics show that it is a safe surgery and that the risk versus reward is definitely on our side with it.  You will do just fine and it will come and go in the blink of an eye and you'll be looking back wondering what you were so worried about.

Good luck and stay strong!

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement!!!! 

Hey, we're surgery buddies! I'm having RNY ON June 6 as well. 

The fear kind of comes and goes for me. Right now I feel pretty calm but I know at my 10 day pre op appointment I'll really start to get nervous. 

Ive dealt with anxiety my whole life so I have some tricks up my sleeve. I know this sounds morbid, but the worst case scenario would be I don't survive the surgery. Before my gallbladder surgery, I put all my paperwork in order and showed my husband where and how I keep everything. It really helped to calm me. Then, I told the surgeon I had a lot of anxiety and they had the anesthesiologist give me something in my IV that calmed me down even before knocking me out. Knowing those two things helped. 

Lets to stay in touch since were scheduled for the same day.

I would love to keep in touch!! 

I thought I was going to be okay with everything but after what I felt the other day I think i'm going to be nervous every time I think about it. 

It doesn't sound Morbid at all. I'm busy thinking about what all I have to get in order for my husband as well. Like you said it brings some sort of peace knowing they'll know what to do. I still can't help but worry since I have a 7 year old. Its my biggest fear dying while she is still young. It one of my reasons for having the surgery though. So I can get the weight off and be healthy for her. 

I'll talk to my surgeon so they can give me something after I get there. My surgery is going to be at 7:30 am and we have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am so I'll probably be too tired to try and run anywhere. But It will be nice so I won't be all worked up when they take me back for surgery. 

The time is flying by so it won't be long at all for us 

I'm scheduled for May 16! 

Monday, I saw my nutritionist for the "last time". LOL. Last post-op anyway.  I told her that up until that day I felt so relaxed and so comfortable knowing what was expected of me and all of the process was basically in my hands. 

I walked next door to the main office and sat down with the ladies who would submit my paperwork for pre-authorization. As soon as they scheduled my pre-op appointments my chest started to fill with anxiety. I got nervous and my head started spinning. To be honest, completely honest, it's not the fear of "dying on the table" that I'm afraid of. My honest to goodness fear is that this will be like every other weight loss attempt I've ever made. My fear of failure is giving me great amounts of grief right now. What if I go through this whole process, completely rearrange my guts and still end up obese 3 years from now? Ugh. 

I know my head is in the right place, I know I want this and I am willing to put in the work. I just know that by coming on this forum every day for support and advice, I'll have all of the answers I need. (Plus I have the utmost faith in my surgeon and his team).

Sorry for the long post - just wanted to let you know that you're not in this alone. Not by a long shot.

I am scheduled for May 16th too! I am not so nervous, at least right now I'm not, but I totally understand feeling like I'm going to be the one that doesn't lose a pound from this! Yikes!

I had my pre-op yesterday... the next time I talk to anyone it'll be the hospital calling me the Friday before to tell me what time to report!

We've both got this, hang in there!

I can say with all honesty I experienced no fear, I wanted this surgery so bad hubby had to hide the knives JK :-) ...This surgery will be a total life saver. Thanks to RNY I now have new knees, can wear blue jeans and at 66 years of age I can run circles around most. Don't be afraid !!